Harry Potter and the Training Year
by Mad Ant
Summary: Harry Potter disappears for a year, then comes back to teach DADA. Includes a dash of romance. My first Harry Potter fanfic. Reviews welcome. Chapter 12 has arrived. (Temporarily suspended, to sort out where the fic is heading)
1. Chapter 01 : The Beginning

Disclaimer : 

Nothings mine

So please don't sue

Cos I got no dough

To give to you.

NB : plot's mine, though, plus any characters that don't appear in any of the HP books.

Summary : 

Harry goes somewhere during the summer holidays after his forth year. He comes back a year later to teach D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts).

Authors note :

This is my first Harry Potter fanfic. I didn't want to do Harry's fifth year, since it's due to come out soom. So I decided to bypass the year and go straight to the sixth year.

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It looked just like any ordinary street. Nothing seemed out of place. There wasn't any activity, either.

Yet this wasn't an ordinary street. For there lived, in number 4, Privet Drive, a very special person. A boy, not yet fifteen, but not far off, lived there. His name : Harry Potter. He was no ordinary boy, for he could do magic.

He didn't feel special at this moment, however. Living with the magic-hating family, he only learnt that he was a wizard when he was 11, when the half-giant Hagrid came to take his to his new school : Hogwarts. All his friends were there, Ron, Hermione, Seamus, Dean, Neville, and many others. He usually spent at least a part of the summer holidays at Ron's house. Yet, this year, Dumbledore told him that he was more protected at fis families house. This was why he was forced to do his homework in the middle of the night, when the rest of his family was asleep.

Sitting at a desk, using a small lamp for light, Harry was busily completing a potions homework (Comparaison of differest healing potions, pros and cons included), stopping to read a bit of the book that was next to him before writing again.

Every so often, he would look glance over to his bedside alarm clock. After all, it's not every day you turn fifteen. For some reason, Harry was even more exited this year compared to the other years. Ever since he had been to Hogwarts, his friends would send him marvelous and interesting gifts for his birthday. But this time, it was different, and he couldn't explain it in any way.

Finally putting down his quill and giving a contented sigh, he doudle cheched his essay, making sure that it was the best he could do. Snape, the potions master, hated Harry, and would do anything to take points off his essay. After he had checked it, however, he rolled it up and put it in the trunk at the foot of his bed, with the rest of his completed essays. Flopping down on his bed, he glanced over to his clock to see the time : 00:05 AM. He was fifteen. Finally. Hearing a tapping noise on the window, he got up and opened it. 7 owls entered. He recognized several of them straight away. Walking over to a snow white owl – his own, called Hedwig, and took the package and letter.

__

Dear Harry,

Happy birthday.

I hope this letter finds you on time, and that the muggles aren't treating you badly. I'm well, busily studying for the OWLs that we'll be having this year('What a surprise', Harry thought)_. Hope you are aswell. Hopefully, I'll get Ron to do the same._

Anyway, I was in Diagon Alley, and say this book screaming your name (not literally, of course). It should come in usefull.

Best regards, Hermione.

Opening the package, he found a book intitled "Curses and counter-curses you never knew existed". Herry was sure that he would find it useful, and couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts to be able to practice.

He opened the other letters from his friends, receiving : a green home-made jumper and a large fruit cake from Mrs Weasley, a book on Quidditch from Ron, some tricks and jokes from Fred and George, a book on magical creatures from Hagrid and a pair of fighting knives with foot-long blades from Sirius and Remus. From McGonagall, there was of course the list of books to be bought for the fifth year at Hogwarts. Thankfully, he hadn't been nominated at prefect ('Life would be so dull if I had to follow te rules', Harry thought to himself).

The last letter was from Dumbledore, explaining (again) why Harry would be safer if he stayed at the Dursleys instead of at the Burrow with the Weasley family, but said that he would be able to go over for the last week of the holidays. Harry was, to make an understatement, thrilled, the Weasleys being his favourite family.

Harry was about to close the window when he heard a popping noise behind him. He quickly turned around, hoping that whatever it was, it wasn't threatening.

A red and gold globe of light was floating in the middle of the room. The red and gold was always moving, like ripples in a pond, or leaves blown in the wind. Never a colour was dominant. It was truly a beautiful sight. Harry slowly approached it, as if drawn to it and unable to resist. He stretched his hand out and, slowly touched the globe. Light filled the room, a blinding, dazzling light. And when it receded, everything related to Harry, his presents, his school books, his clothes, everything, was gone …


	2. Chapter 02 : Friends Reactions

Disclaimer : still ain't mine, still got no money, so I'm writing away, trying to be funny. Enjoy.

Summary :

Harry goes somewhere during the summer holidays after his forth year. He comes back a year later to teach D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts).

Authors Note : 

Wow, only one chapter up, and 4 reviews already. Thanks to **Ariel, valeries26, (Anonymous) and Phoenix353.** This chapter will be longer than the first, which was an introductory chapter.

On another note, if you see a mistake, wether in the plot or a spelling glitch, let me know.

And, of course, Reviews are welcome and appreciated.

This is a long chapter. Bear with me. I try to keep events grouped in chapters. Chapter one was Harrys' dissapearance, so chapter 2 is logically his friends reactions to his dissapearance.

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"RON !!! GET UP NOW !!!"

The sheets stirred, a red crop of hair appearing at the head of the bed, gradually followed by the head of Ron Weasley. Last boy, but not the youngest child thanks to younger sister Ginny Weasley. His room was on the top floor in the Weasley house, baptized 'The Burrow'.

"RON !!! FOR THE LAST TIME, BREAKFAST !!!"

Ron opened his eyes, only to see a bludger heading straight his way.

"AAAHHHHHHH !!!" he yelled, rolling away to avoid the murderous ball heading his way. The result, of course, was his painful drop from his bed to the floor, which was thankfully not that high up. Sitting up, he realized the bludger was part of the new Chuddley Cannons poster he had bought. Being a magical poster, it was animated, and the scene was a scene from Quidditch, a fast and furious wizarding sport played on broomsticks and using 4 different balls : 1 quaffle, 2 bludgers, and the golden snitch.

Ron, seeing as how he was now wide awake, quickly got up and dressed. Exiting his room and descending several flights of stairs before reaching the kitchen. The rest of the Weasley family living at the Burrow were present. Mr and Mrs Weasley, Percy, the twins called Fred and George, and Ginny.

Sitting down at the table, his plate was almost instantly filled by Mrs Weasley, who placed sausage, fried eggs, some mushrooms, and several buttered pieces of toast on his plate. The speed almost equaled the way the food appeared at Hogwarts.

"Thanks mum" he said, before tucking in.

Percy was busy reading some official looking papers (probably some report concerning the sale of thin-bottomed cauldrons), Fred and George were quietly discussing potential articles for 'Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes', the joke shop they hoped to open once they finished Hogarts, and Ginny, Arthur and Molly were busy discussing what they were going to do during the day.

Molly turned towards Ron : "What time did Hermione say she would be arriving today ?"

Ron thought for a bit while chewing on a sausage. "Erm, …, she said she would be arrivinging at 1 o'clock."

"Will she have eaten before coming over do you think ?"

"I dunno. We could always have a late lunch. Or a picnic."

Before Molluy could give an answer, a letter flew through the open window. No owl, just the letter. And it went straight to Ron. All conversations stopped. Even Percy stopped looking at his papers to see what was going on. The letter landed straight in front of Ron.

Ron, however, made no mouvement to pick it up. He just looked at it as if it was going to explode.

"Erm, Ron, you've got a letter." Fred said, seeing that his younger brother wasn't moving.

"So I noticed, idiot."

"Well read it then."

Ron slowly put down his knife and fork and picked up the letter. Opening it, he was relieved when it didn't explode or contain a curse of any sort. He read : 

_Dear Ron,_

By the time you have recieved this letter, I will have gone. I can't tell you where because, well, I actually have no idea where I am exactly. All I can say for sure is that I'm safe, and that there's no way Voldemort can get to me here. There's a lot I want to tell you, but the 'people' (no other word for it) here say I can't tell you. Hopefully, I'll be able to tell you when I get back. I'll be gone about a year, I don't know exactly how long, as that will depend on how fast my training goes.

I'll be sending similar letters to Hermione, Dumbledore, Hagrid and Lupin. They should recieve their letters at that same time as you do. Please try not to worry. I won't do anything stupid while I'm gone, and I'll try to regularly send you letters. According to the locals, time passes differently here. It's supposed to pass quicker, but won't affect me, which means that when I come back, I'll be the same age as when I left.

Since I can't be reached by owl post, letters will have to be magically sent. You have to touch the letter or package with your wand and say the incantation 'Envoyus' followed by the name of the person. If the letter is urgent, the incantation becomes 'Envoyus Urgentes', followed by the name of the person. Since you can't do magic during the holidays, you'll have to ask your parents or one of your older brothers to do it for you.

Well, I hope to be in touch soon and receive a letter soon.

See you soon, Harry.

"Are you going to read it out loud ?" Molly asked.

He nodded and complied, as if on automatic pilot, replacing 'Voldemort' with 'You-Know-Who'. A stunned silence followed the reading of the letter.

"He's GONE ?!?" Molly exclaimed, finally coming to her sences.

Arthur just nodded, his gaping jaw unable to give a voiced answer. Percy, Fred, George and Ginny just stared at the letter that Ron was holding. Ron could do nothing other than stare at the letter. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, Ron said, "We have to contact Dumbledore."

"Quicker done than said. Or is it the other way round ?"

They turned to see Albus' head floating in the fireplace.

"Professor, did you just receive a letter from Harry ?" Ron quickly asked his headmaster.

"I did."

"Does it say where he is ?" Ron asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not. May I come over ?"

"Of course Albus," Arthur said.

His head dissappeared, only to be replaced by a popping noise as Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, came out of the fire. In his hand he clutched the letter Harry had sent him.

"Can I see your letter, Ron ?" Albus said.

"Yes, of course. Here you go," Ron said, handing his letter to Dumbledore.

After a quick read, Dumbledore spoke : "I'm afraid he gives no other information in your letter as he does in mine."

"Do you have any idea where he could have gone ?" Arthur asked, hoping the headmaster would have at least a plausible theory about the whole thing.

"The only possibility I can come up with is that Harry left to some alternate dimension or plane that can be magically attained. The question is, how did he reach it in the first place ? Assmuing, of course, that me theory proves correct."

The fire behind Dumbledore roared green flames as Hermione stumbled out of the fire, covered in soot (unlike Dumbledore). And just like Dumbledore, she held a letter tightly in her hand. She was obviously on the verge of tears : her eyes were shiny and her hand trembling. She just stood there, not knowing what to say. Finally, she chose to say nothing, choosing instead to fall crying in Rons arms. Molly, too, had trouble keeping in her tears, as Arthur took her hand in his to give it a reassuring squeeze.

"What should we do, professor ?" Ron asked Dumbledore, hugging Hermione and patting her back in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture.

"Well, I think it would be best if we wrote back, if only to say that we got the letter."

Molly nodded, and got up to get some parchment, a quill and a pot of ink.

"Professor, couldn't you put a tracing charm on the letter before sending it. It might give some clue as to Harrys' whereabouts." Arthur suggested.

"Good idea, Arthur. I'll give it a try, although if my thoery about his being on another plane prooves correct, I doubt he could be traced. But it's always worth a try."

Molly returned with a the necessary to write a letter. Dumbledore quickly wrote a short note to say that he, Ron and Hermione had received their letters, and that he hoped to get some news soon. Ron signed, and Hermione managed to dry her tears and shakily signed next to Ron. Dumbledore sealed the letter, then performed a tracing and a water-repelling charm on it (just in case it was raining where Harry was, wherever _that_ was). Dumbledore then placed his wand on the letter and muttered 'Envoyus Harry Potter'. The letter glowed gold for a second, before rising and flying quickly out of the window.

"Sir ?"

"Yes Hermione ?"

"I've never heard of that spell before. Did Harry invent it ?"

Dumbledore smiled at Hogwarts top student. "No, Harry didn't invent it. It was existed for quite some time. But it has been banned by the ministry, and declared a dark charm. I wonder where he got the spell from."

"A dark charm ?" Ron snorted. "It's just used to send mail. Why on earth would a letter-sending sharm be declared dark magic ?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Unfortunately, not all spells or potions considered as part of the dark arts are evil in nature."

"Then why was it banned ?"

Dumbledore gave a little smile. "What do you think would happen if everyone used that spell ?"

"Well, no one would use owls anymore ?" Hermione said, more as a question than an answer.

"Correct. Which means that no one would have to buy owls for postal uses, nor would owl post offices have any use anymore. That means money lost for someone, somewhere."

"A spell is considered a dark art because it was cause someone financial loss !!! That's crazy !!!" Ron all but shouted.

"Unfortunately, it's not the only one. Snape knows a number of health enforcing potions that are considered dark. If anyone could brew them, doctors and nurses would be less needed, resulting once again in financial loss for someone." Dumbledore patiently explained. "Of course, never forget that some dark arts spells are truly dark and dangerous. But not all of them are."

Ron could just gape at Dumbledore as Arthur spoke : "It's the same with jinxing muggle objects. Some spells cannot be cast on certain objects, because it would remove jobs. Not forgetting conjuring objects or transfiguration. If everyone conjured up all their food, no one would have to buy any."

Hermione and Ron thought about this, as Dumbledore turned to Fred and George and said, "This does not apply to objects or food that will be used in pranks, however.", his mustace twitching as he tried to stop a smile coming to his lips and a twinkle in his eye. He ten got up and turned to leave. Upon reaching the fire, he turned to address those present : "I must go. I have some people to contact, plus I must see how successful the tracing charm goes. I hope to be in contact soon. Enjoy your holidays. Do not let Harrys dissappearance spoil them. And don't forget to write from time to time." With that Dumbledore threw some floo powder into the flames and said, in a firm and clear voice "Hogwarts, headmasters office," and left in a flurry of green flames.

Upon reaching his destination, Albus shook his head and thought '_I hope Sirius doesn't take this too badly_' before hearing Hagrids heavy paces climbing the stairs …

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Sirius was staying with Remus Lupin. They had just come back from a spying trip together for Albus Dumbledore in eastern Europe. Death eater activity had been noticed in countries such as Bulgaria and Romania, and Dumbledore wanted a complete report as to what the situation was there.

Sirius was sitting on the couch in the living room with his feet on the coffee table in front of the fire. Remus was coming down the stairs, his hair wet, visibly just having finished bathing.

Sirius was watching carefully with a small grin on his features. His face was no longer gaunt, his eyes no longer dark, lifeless and sullen. His hair was clean and short, and was now worn in quite a stylish crop cut. It didn't really matter if he didn't like it, as it could be magically lengthened, to a certain degree. He could even be called handsome. Of course, the good food and exercise meant that he was back in good physical form, his frame filling out the robes.

Just as Remus stepped off the last step, a small explosion of green and purple smoke appeared at his feet, making his float. Remus just managed to keep his balance as the multicoloured cloud started floating randomly around the room, carrying a precariously balanced Remus with it.

"SIRIUS !!!"

Said person was, of course, rolling around on the floor laughing his head off, holding onto his ribs as if they were going to burst through his sides at any moment.

5 minutes later, when Sirius finally managed to control himself once again, he took out his wand and performed the counter curse. Remus slowly floated back to the floor, where the cloud vanished, freeing its temporary prisoner. Remus looked over at Sirius, who had a huge grim on his face, an said,"You know this means war, don't you ?"

"Of course I do, Moony old friend, old buddy, old pal. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Remus had been one of Sirius' best friends when he was at Hogwarts. He was also a werewolf, but this didn't prevent his from being one of the kindest, most patient people Sirius knew. He was also on of the best pransters he knew, as they had belonged to the 'Marauders', probably the biggest trouble-makers Hogwarts has ever had the privilege of teaching. Good food and exercise also showed on Remus. As a werewolf, he had increased physical attributes, but his frame was still large enough to be intimidating when need be.

Remus was about to retort to Sirius when a letter came through the open window. It didn't matter the windows were open, since Remus' house was so much in the countryside that nobody ever passed by accident. Remus caught the letter in mid-flight and quickly opened it. His eyes went wide as he read.

"Is it bad news ?" Sirius asked, noticing Remus' reaction to reading the letter. "What does it say ?"

"You better read it for yourself," And gave the letter to his friend who had come to stand just in front of him. Sirius took the letter and quickly read through. His reaction was more or less the same as Lupins had been.

"We have to go to the Dursleys."

"My thoughts exactly." Remus said, as he went to get his wand. Once his wand was safely in his pocket, the disapparated to number 4, Privey Drive …

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"BOY !!! GET UP NOW !!! DON'T MAKE ME CALL YOU AGAIN !!!" Petunia's voice called (shrieked) up the stairs. She then entered the kitchen once again, attending to the sausages and eggs that were being cooked. She didn't want to have to take care of them.'_He_ should be doing that' she thought savagely.

"What is that boy doing ?" Vernon Dursley asked, looking over the top of his newspaper to his wife.

"Whatever it is, can I punish him for not coming down ?" Dudley asked. He was no longer on the diet that Smeltings had put him on, as it had failed to make him lose anything other than his temper. If anything, he had continued to put on weight since he would binge and raid the fridge. His clothes would have to be tailor made from now on, and probably forever more.

"Of course you can, son." Vernon said, returning to his paper.

2 minutes passed, before Petunia decided to act. "I'm going up there. I'll drag him down here if need be." She got up, just as the doorbell rang. She went to open it and met with …

"Good morning," Remus joyfully said. Beside him was a big black dog.

"And you are ?"

"My name is Remus Lupin. May I come in ?"

"What do you want ? We don't want any of your kind in here."

Vernons voice came from the kitchen, "Who is it dear ?"

"It's one of _them_."

The scraping of chairs could be heard, and Vernon entered the hall. Dudley was doing his best to hide behind his father, and doing an awefully bad job of it.

"What do you want ?" Vernon spat out, not bothering to hise the disgust and disdain from his voice.

"I would like to see Harry, please."

"Boys not up yet. We called, and he still isn't down yet." Turning his fat head towards the top of the stairs, he shouted "HARRY !!! COME DOWN THIS INSTANT !!!" Yet, there was still no reply.

Remus kept his eyes on the top of the stairs, in the hope of seeing Harry come down at any moment.

"See ? No consideration whatsoever. I wonder what made me keep him when he turned up after his stupid parents got themselves killed …"

He never got the chance to finish his sentance as Sirius transformed back into a human, whipped his wand out of his robe pocket and level it at Vernons head. "Another _word_, another _insinuation_, another breath without my permission, and I will curse you. Get that ?" Sirius hissed at Vernon, who blanched and stubled back, banging into Dudley and Petunia and causing all 3 to fall in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. Remus was glad Sirius had acted, as he was on the verge of loosing his temper. And when a werewolf looses there temper, even in human form, the results are nasty. Remus was usually calm, however, and very rarely violent, so no one never really knew about it. Seeing the Dursley family react to Sirius, however, brought a small smile to his lips.

Sirius entered the house as the members of the Dursley family were doing their best to disentangle themselves from each other. They weren't doing a good job of it, and it looked like a game of 'Twister' gone horribly wrong. He quickly ascended the stairs and opened Harrys room. Nothing. No trace of Harry whatsoever. No book, no item of clothing, not even a quill that belonged to Harry was here. It looked like a toy cemetary, broken toys all over the place, not forgetting the broken TVs, console, and empty comsole game boxes. Sirius looked around in disgust before exiting the room. Taking a quick glance in each of the rooms, he saw no more proof that Harry had at one point lived there.

Coming back downstairs, he looked at the Dursleys who were cowering in the hall under Lupins gaze. Hearing Sirius come down, he looked hopefully at his friend, only to be met with a look of disgust and a shake of the head. Remus looked at Vernon, bringing himself to his full height and squaring his chest, and asked "When was the last time you saw Harry ?"

"L-last night, ar-ar-around n-nine o' c-clock," Vernon managed to stutter. Petunia and Dudley didn't speak, but nodded frantically at Remus. "He finished d-dinner, then went up to his r-r-room."

Remus gave a sigh, and the Dursleys withdrew even more at this. They were already pressed against the wall, so they now seemed to be trying to pass through it or melt into it. "Sirius, we'll have to go see Dumbledore about this."

Sirius gave a nod and left the house after becoming a dog, followed by Remus. Once they were far enough away, and making sure no one was watching, they apparated to the Weasleys house. All the Weasleys had been told about Sirius, even Charlie and Bill, so they had ne trouble with him. He still stayed in a dogs form, in case the Weasleys received unannounced visitors. 

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Cho Chang woke up as the light streaming through the curtains hit her face. Cursing under her breath, she turned over, hoping that she would manage to get back to sleep. It seemed that sleep fleed from her, and when she did manage to get a good nights rest, she would be brutally awoken. Today, or rather, last night, she had forgetten to close properly her bedroom curtains. Since her window faced the rising sun, this equated her early forceful awakening.

Of course, this could but remind her for the reason sleep was missing recently : Cedric Diggory. She missed him terribly. But not in the way everyone thought. True, they had been going out with each other, for several months. Yet, she could see him as nothing other than an older brother, the one she never had, but dearly wished she had had.

They had come to some sort of mutual agreement to stop going out together, but to remain good friends, no matter what. However, Cedric had been killed by the dark lord during the last task of the tri-wizard tournament end of last school year. That's what Dumbledore said anyway. And she believed him. But she wanted to know exactly what happened. _Everything _that had happened. And there was only one person who could tell her : Harry Potter.

This was where her problems started. Harry must have been one of the sweetest people she knew. He was, every time she saw him, looking out for someone else, usually one of his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. He was also very smart, getting good points in most, if not all, classes. He seemed to excel in DADA (Defence Against the Dark Arts), but this could be due to the many stressful situations he seemed to find himself in, and had successfully overcome. Every time he would accomplish an act of bravery, the whole school seemed to be aware of every detail. The Philosophers Stone in the first year, the Chamber of Secrets in his second year, coming face-to-face with his parents secret keeper at the end of the third year, without forgetting the tri-wizard tournament just last year.

Yet, he would never benefit from his fame. He wouldn't flaunt it. At least, not to her knowledge. Quite the opposite, in fact, as he seemed to hate the fame that came with his name.

Without a doubt, he was the person she loved. Not Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived. Not Harry Potter, tri-wizard champion. Just plain Harry Potter.

'_Yet_, Cho realized, _how well do I really know him ? I only know what I see of him, what I read on him. But how well do I know the REAL Harry Potter ? Not well_' she admitted to herself.

That was why she had made a resolve last night. She had swore to herself that she would write to Harry during the holidays. '_Goodness knows he would need a friend. Plus_, she thought, _from what I see, he could start to wallow in guilt, and I can't allow that to happen. He had to know that what happened wasn't his fault._'

She got up and quickly dressed. Opening the curtains fully to let the light fill her room and leaving a window slightly ajar to make sure her room didn't overheat. It was summer, after all. Walking over to desk, she pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and a half-full pot of ink. Placing herself in the chair, she had just opened the pot of ink when she saw a letter slipping between he window and the frame, and fly in her direction. She could do nothing but stare as it landed just in front of her. Warily picking it up, she opened it and read : 

_Dear Cho,_

It's Harry. I must be the last person you expected to write to you during the holidays, but I just had to. There's so much I have to say.

First of all, I want to apologize. I can't help but feel that it's my fault Cedric died. We were in front of the tri-wizard cup. He told me to take it, and I told him to take it. Eventually, I stupidly suggested that we both take it, as it would still be a Hogwarts victory. Some victory.

I just thought that you had the right to know. I won't be supprised if you never want to talk to me again, but I wanted you to know that I am truly, deeply, sorry.

If you do ever find it in your heart to forgive me, know that I will always be here for you. If you want to ask me something, anything, don't hesitate. It's the least I can do.

Since I can't be reached by owl post (I can't tell you where I am, I'm afraid), letters will have to be magically sent. You have to touch the letter or package with your wand and say the incantation 'Envoyus' followed by the name of the person. If the letter is urgent, the incantation becomes 'Envoyus Urgentes', followed by the name of the person. Since you can't do magic during the holidays, you'll have to ask your parents or maybe another member of your family to do it for you.

Best regards, Harry.

Finishing the letter, she could feel tears in her eyes. '_He feels guilty. He shouldn't. No one could have known, not even Dumbledore. I have to let him know …_' Bet she couldn't react without more information. She would have to ask his best friends if they knew anything …

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Since Hermione had already arrived at the Weasleys', it was no use she returned to her house. Arthur had gone to her parents to get her trunk, and had stayed for a suspicious length of time. He later admitted he had spent quite a long time talking about different muggle objetcs and inventions with the Grangers. He was somewhat obsessed with anything and everything concerning muggles. The rest of his family, of course, considered him to be slightly insane.

Ron and Hermione were in the kitchen, talking about Harry. Remus and Sirius, after telling what they knew, had gone to see Dumbledore. Fred and George had gone back to their room, and regular small explosiosn could be heard. Arthur and Percy were at work and Molly had gone to do some shopping in Diagon alley with Ginny. They hadn't been speaking for long before the flames of the fire blazed up and turned green. Before they had the time to consider who would arrive, Cho Chang stepped out of the flames. If they had been expecting someone, it surely wasn't her. She shyly mumbled a "hello", realizing it was strange that she appear like that, seeing as she hadn't really spoken with either if them before, much less been invited over.

Hermione gave her a small but encouraging smile. "Hello Cho." Noticing she, just as Dumbledore had, was holding a letter tightly in her had, she asked, "What's the matter ?"

Cho looked up. "I just received a letter from Harry, and, well, there's parts of it I don't really understand."

Ron blanched slightly at this. "Erm, Cho, could we see the letter please. It might give us some more information."

Cho silently handed over the piece of parchment, and Ron took it before reading it, Hermione looking over his shoulder. When he finished, he let out a small sigh and placed the letter. "This does give us more information as to what state he's in. But nothing else. I suppose you want to know where he is ?" he asked Cho, whe gave a quick nod of her head. Ron pointed to an empty seat, and she sat down, Hermione taking her place once again next to Ron. "To tell you the truth, no one knows where he is." Handing over his own letter, Cho quickly read through it as Hermione started to speak. "We received this letter. He dissapeared at some time during last night. We don't know how, we don't know why, we don't know where."

Cho had by this time finished reading Rons letter. "But, hasn't anyone gone to his house to see if there are any clues ?"

"Professor Lupin and Sirius have been over," Ron said, before realizing what he said. Hermione kicked him in the shin as Cho gave him a puzzled glance.

"Sirius ? Sirius who ?"

Ron, looking at the table and muttered something under his breath while rubbing his shin. Bringing his head up, he said "Sirius Black" in a barely audible voice.

Cho eyes widened in shock. "The escaped convict ?"

"The one and only" Ron muttered.

"But he killed a street full of people !! He betrayed the Potter family !! Why would he do anything for Harrys' good ?!"

"Because he's innocent." Ron answered.

"How can he be innocent ?" Cho asked, incredulous. "There were LOADS of witnesses !!!"

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, gave a small nod, and turned back to Cho, who was eyeing them warily. They then took turns to explain to Cho the truth, and how they had found it out.

"The only people on our side to know are Dumbledore, professor Lupin, Harry, Hermione, my family and I. And Sirius, of course."

Cho looked, or rather gaped, at them both. "Wow," was the only thing she could say.

"Yep, my thoughts exactly," Hermione said.

"And have you written back to Harry yet ?"

Rons eyebrow rose slightly, causing Chos' cheeks to become slightly pink, and answered, "Yes. My dad suggested to place a tracing charm on the letter, but we haven't heard anything about it from Dumbledore yet."

"Oh," Cho said, looking at the table in front of her.

A few embarassing moments passed before Cho spoke again. "Can you talk to me about him ?"

Ron gave a small smile, knowing that Harry too had a … _thing_ … for Cho, and before long, all three of them were talking like old friends …

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There. Finally arrived at the end of the chapter. Read and review.

Next chapter : Rons and Hermiones Fifth Year.


	3. Chapter 03 : Rons and Hermiones Fifth Ye...

Disclaimer : Still no money, only blood and tears, are making me write, about Harrys years.

(If this is the best I can do, the Sorting Hats song is goint to be utter rubbish).

Summary :

Harry goes somewhere during the summer holidays after his forth year. He comes back a year later to teach D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts).

Authors Note : 

Double wow. Only a few minutes after the second chapter was up and running, several people had already given hearwarming encouragement. Thanks to my latest reviews : **Wolfmoon, zac-ravenclaw, Laterose and Selany.** Thanks also to those who have put me on their favourite authors/stories list : you know who you are ;) .

Don't forget : reviews are always welcome, whether it be flames or praise, negative or positive, black or white, ying or yang … (you get the picture).

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The holidays passed, and soon it was September 1st. All the people Harry had written too had kept up a regular correspondance with Harry, who would regularly write back. He would still never give any information about his whereabouts, insisting that he had no idea where he was, which was believable. Dumbledore had tried to locate the letter by following the tracing charm. However, whilst the trail left by the letter was strong at first, it gradually faded till it was no longer detectable, much to the disappointment of Ron, Hermione, and, of course, Cho Chang.

Cho and Harry had been writing more often to each other than the others. Every other day, Cho would receive a letter, and send a reply back the day after. Cho was happy that she was finally learning about Harry. Whilst he wouldn't give away information easily, he was becoming more and more open to her as time passed. She still hadn't asked about details as to what had happened after the tri-wizard tournament, but was resolved to do so soon.

Cho was thinking about this as when was walking towards the platforms at Kings Cross Station. Her parents were walking next to her, telling her to behave, to work hard, and many things only parents consider to be on importance. Cho was only half listening, since her thoughts kept straying to Harry.

Walking through the wall between platforms 9 and 10, she arrived onto platform 9 ¾, where many fellow students were already putting their trunks onto the bright scarlet steam train. She looked for her house friends, but instead spotted Ron and Hermione, along with the rest of the Weasley family. Cho would visit weekly the Burrow, and Ron, Hermione and herself had become friends. She somehow had the feeling that she had been accepted into their group. '_It's no longer a threesome, but it's now a foursome_' she told herself, allowing a smile to grace her pretty features.

That was probably the understatement of the year. She was popular, smart, hardworking, easy going, had a lot of good friends and was top of her year. She was also considered the prettiest girl in the school, that Ron had once asked if she had any Veela blood. '_Only one thing missing_' she thought with a sigh. _Love_, with a capital L. However, her letters to Harry were starting to fill that particular void. Harry had promised that once he had had enough training, he would dream hop. He could already do that when the distances weren't great, but wasn't comfortable enough to do it for too great distances or for a very long time.

Finally spotting some of her fellow 6th year Ravenclaws, she hugged her parents goodbye, promising to write regularly, and went to join her friends.

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The train towards Hogwarts had prooved calm for Hermione, Ron and Ginny. Cho had dropped by just after they had left platform 9 ¾, and they had chatted for a for minutes. They had to deal with the constant flow of fellow Gryffindors, each wanting to know why Harry wasn't there. They had also been _graced_ by the presence of Malfoy, although he hadn't stayed long after seeing Harry was missing. Ron was looking out the window, while Hermione and Ginny were quietly conversing.

"I wonder what he's doing right now …" Ron suddenly blurted out. Hermione and Ginny stopped talking and looked worriedly at Ron. Whilst he seemed to be OK on the outside, they bith knew that it was bothering him more than he let on. Ginny shared the bond with Ron that can only be found between siblings, and Ron and Hermione had grown much closer since she had stayed a whole month at the Burrow without Harry.

"All of his letters mentions training, he's probably learning some powerful spells, or maybe weapons fighting." Hermione suggested.

"Hmmm …" was the only reply he gave.

"Just think of all the things he'll be learning" she continued, while Ron rolled his eyes, "but I wonder what he'll do for his OWLs."

"Maybe he can pass them from where he is, or when he comes back."

"Possily."

A few minutes of awkward silence ensued before Hermione decided to try again. "Who do you think will be the new DADA teacher this year ?"

"Dunno. I hope it's professor Lupin. He was definitely the best we've had so far." He gave a small sigh. "I think we'll be needing these lessons more than any of the others in the near future."

Hermione frowned slightly. "I think we'll be learning some very interesting potions this year. Some should proove very useful. We'll be doing healing potions, for one."

"I know. I'm still smarting about how many corrections you made on my potions essay. I ended up having to re-write the whole thing."

"You're still grateful I did bother to correct it, aren't you ?"

"Yeah, but I doubt that it'll make a big difference for Snape."

"Unfortunately, you might be right about that one."

They eventually decided to play exploding snap, the fun only increasing as Seamus and Dean, 2 fellow Gryffindor 5th years joined in. Not even the rain which started shortly after midday could dampen their spirits …

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The beginning of the year went smoothly. Ron, Hermione and Cho were grateful to be able to send their mail to Harry without having to ask someone else to do it for them. Lessons went well, especially since Remus Lupin was back to teach the DADA classes, much to the delight of almost all of the students, Syltherins included. The only students who voiced and complaints about it were Malfoy, Goyle and Crabbe, but their voices weighed little compared to all the other students, so they kept their complaints to themselves.

Dumbledore had explained the real reason of Harry's dissappearance to the Hogwarts staff. Flitwick had falled of his chair, Hagrid sniffed loudly despite having been one of the few to have received a letter from Harry, McGonagall just gasped and stayed, mouth gaping at the headmaster. Trelawney started going on how she already knew thanks to her inner eye having warned her beforehand, before being quietened by the glares from her fellow teachers. Even Snape, whose animosity towards Harry was well known, was strangely subdued during that particular staff meeting.

At the great feast, however, he had given a washed down version, explaining that Harry would be gone a year for additionnal training. Whenever Malfoy crossed paths with Ron or Hermione, however, he would go on loudly that Harry had gone into hiding from the Dark Lord. This usually resulted in points being taken from the Syltherin house by Hermione, who had been made prefect (the other Gryffindor prefect being Dean Thomas, Ron being immensly glad he hadn't been made prefect). Snape would make up for it in potions lessons, but to a lesser extent than before. And, strangely, if he ever heard a remark about Harry's whereabouts, points would be removed, even from his own house.

Since Harry had been the Gryffindore seeker, tryouts were being held for keeper and Seeker position, plus reserves for the next year. Ron Weasley was made keeper, whereas Ginny was made seeker, bringing to 4 the number of Weasleys on the Gryffindor team. Seamus and Dean were made reserve beaters, and reserve chasers had been chosen. They still had to find a reserve seeker, however. As soon as they had been anounced the news, Ron had written to Harry, urgently sending the piece of parchment to Harry. Just one hour later, Harry had answered, saying he would send a present. What they got, however, was beyond whatever they had expected …

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"Ron, wake up. Practice …"

"Bugger off, I wanna sleep." Ron answered whoever it was that was trying to wake him.

Sighing, Fred was left no choice. Pointing his wand towards Rons head, he muttered a few chosen words. Ron was soon soaking wet.

"Oy !!! What was that for ?!?" Ron splutted angrily.

"You wouldn't get up," Fred answered back, the grin he was wearing barely visible in the dark. "Our captain (Katie Bell had been made team captain) wants us to go train." It was barely mid-september, but Katie was being almost as absesive as Oliver Wood had been. Ron had made the team as keeper, and Ginny was made seeker.

"All right, I'm coming."

Quickly getting dressed, he left his dorm and made his way down to the common room. The team was gathered in front of the fire, where 2 long boxes were to be found.

"What are you all doing there ? Waiting for me ?" Ron managed to say before a yarn interrupted him.

"Actually, yes, we were waiting for you."

"Huh ?" Ron answered back.

Katie spoke up : "We came down to find 2 boxes in front of the fire. Next to them was a letter, with Ron written on the envelope. We decided to wait."

Ron walked up and took the letter Katie was holding out to him. Opening the envelope and taking the letter, he read : 

_Dear Ron,_

I decided to send you a present. If my memory serves me well, the first Quidditch match is coming up soon (Slytherin, in 2 weeks time)_. In the box is 2 broomsticks I made_ ("He made them ?" the rest of the team exclaimed)_. The biggest of the two is yours, the other going to Ginny._

Now don't be alarmed about their initial appearances. Thay have to activated. You have to place a drop of your blood on the tip of the broom. It bonds you to your broomstick, making it impossible to ride for people you don't want to ride it. There are other personnalized features, but I'll leave you each to discover them for yourselves. Keep me up to date.

On a more prudent note, don't say where you got the brooms from except to the rest of the team and to those you can trust, such as Dumbledore. And make sure to rub Malfoys nose in it.

Love, Harry.

"Wow, he _made_ us a broomstick." Ron said in awe. He didn't know how much effort was put into making a broomstick, but it wasn't any old wizard or witch that was able.

Placing the letter to the side, he slowly opened the box. His first impression was one of disgust. Seeing the state of these brooms, he prefered to keep with the schools Comets, but rembered the letter '_They have to be activated_'. Handing the smaller broom to Ginny, he asked : "Should we activate them together ?"

"No go ahead first."

Ron carefully placed the broom on the floor. Taking his wand, he cast a spell which makes a painless slit. Slowly, a drop of blood dripped from the slit to the broom. The effect was amlost immediate. The broom started to glow with a bright red light, and literally transformed. The tail twigs straightened, the handle grew a bit in length and smoothed out. Runes, shining with a rich blue or green light, started forming, starting at the tip and heading towards the tail. Everyone was watching, awe being the enly emotion present on their faces.

About a minutes later, the light receded, leaving probably the most beautiful broom they had ever seen hovering next to Ron.

They stood there for all of 5 minutes, before anyone could say anything. Ron finally managed to turn to Ginny, and say "your turn."

She closed her gaping mouth, and nodded. She then proceeded to perform the same charm as Ron had, with much the same effect, but not quite. For a start, her handle was longer than Rons, and slightly thinner. The tail twigs were also longer. The runes were different, too, and shone with a purple and red light instead of Rons blue and green.

"Wow Harry, that's one hell of a present." Was all Ron could get out of his mouth. No one else could say anything, so they just nodded. Turning to Ginny, Ron grinned and asked : "Wanna try them out ?"

Ginny, too, grinned. "Do I ever ?"

They grabbed their respective brooms and quickly left to go to the Quidditch pitch, followed by the rest of the team.

Needless to say, the brooms were exceptionnal, light years ahead of what was presently for sale in "Best brooms". Ginnys had brilliant flying possibilities, being fast and manoeuvrable. She also found some of Harry's extras : gold-coloured objects glowed slightly, but this could be avoided by touching a certain rune. She could also give her broom a short burst of extra-high speed, but only for a short time, roughly the length of the Quidditch pitch. Harry, being a seeker himself, knew what was useful on a seekers broom. Rons broom was by no means inferior. Whilst not as fast as Ginnys, he had better accelaration and braking. Plus the quaffle would leave a kind of trace so that it was easier to guess its trajectory. And Ron reckoned that it was still faster than a Firebolt, despite its being a keepers broom. But he was sure that he still had a lot to learn about his broom …

Needless to say, they easily beat Syltherin 2 weeks later : 370 – 0. Malfoy would be fuming for weeks after …

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It was mid-October. Cho was busy studying in the RavenClaw common room. It was late, and little light shone threw the windows. Only some candles and the fire from the fireplace provided light.

Putting the finishing touches to her transfiguration essay ('Dangers on becoming an Animagi'), she was ready to go to sleep.

Just a few minutes later, she was in bed, and had fallen asleep.

**/* Dream sequence */**

She was … somewhere. It was as if she was floating in the sky on a sunny day, yet she definitly felt something underneath her feet. She tried walking, and whilst she had the impression whe was moving, she was visibly getting nowhere.

"Trying to get awway from me, are you ?"

Cho spun around. About 10 meters away … stood Harry.

"Harry ?"

"No an evil ghost come to haunt you in your dreams. Of course it's me."

"Harry !!" she exclaimed, running to Harry and throwing herself at him, hugging him as if he would die tomorrow.

"Hello Cho," he said softly.

Cho was now crying onto Harry's chest. He was dressed in ordinary black Hogwarts robes, as was Cho. When she finally stopped crying, she stepped back to take a good look at Harry. She knew that she had finaly reached her tallest, measuring 5'8" (about 1m75), and harry was about half a foot taller. He was no longer skinny and looking like he was underfed. He was larger, his frame having filled out well. His features were more or less the same, just a bit more mature. His hair was the same, however, and still stuck up all over the place. He was wearing his glasses, and Cho wondered why he still had them since this was a dream.

Harry smiled at her, and said "I told you I would visit you soon."

Cho smiled back, and replied "Yes, and I'm grateful for it."

"I'm afraid I can only stay for half an hour. I'm not strong enough to stay longer."

Cho gave a reassuring smile, and said "don't worry, any time spent with you is a blessing."

Harry smiled happily at this, and stepped up and hugged Cho. It wasn't a brotherly hug or a reassuring hug, it was tender, loving. Cho smiled inwardly at this. She could tell : he had feeling for her too.

Breaking the embrace, Harry sat down on the sofa that was just behind him. Cho was suprised, as it hadn't been there a second earlier, but then reasoned that anything was possible in her dream. She sat down next to Harry, just content at being next to him. She held his hand in hers, and put her head on his shoulder.

After a few minutes, Harry broke the silence. "I'm sorry to break such a pleasent moment, but …"

"Yes ?"

"If I came tonight, it's because in one of my first letters, I promised to tell you what happened … to Cedric."

Cho gulped slightly at this. But she wanted to know, HAD to know, what had happened to Cedric and Harry. She had to know how Cedric had died. But, she realized, she was also desperate to know what Harry had gone through. She could vagualy (spelling???) remember sometimes seeing Harry walking through the corridors, head hung, other students pointing him out and whispering behing his back.

Looking up into Harry's emeranl green eyes, she firmly said, "I want to know what happened. Not just concerning Cedric. Everything."

"I'm warning you, it isn't pretty."

"Thats not the important issue. You were involved. And what concerns you concerns me too."

Harry tilted his head while looking at Cho, then gave a small nod. Standing up, he helped Cho get to her feet. "Hold both my hands." She compiled. Harry closed his eyes, and the scenery changed. The clouds turned black, and some form of land rushed up from below. In no time at all, the whole scene played from Harry's point of view. She saw Harry writher in pain while Cedric was killed by the killing curse. She was the death eaters, and gasped during the duel with Voldemort. Seeing Cedric ask Harry was too much for her, as tears started to fall down her face. Finally, she saw Harry run away and portkey away with Cedrics body.

The blue sky and white coulds came back. Harry, too, had tears in his eyes. And Cho couldn't stop crying. They hugged, both being comforted by the presence of the other.

"Thank you, Harry."

"What for ? For making you cry ?" he managed to joke back through his own tears.

"For showing me what happened, without holding back."

"It was the least I could do. I still feel guilty, despite what everyone says."

"Harry, objectivly speaking, no one could have done anything."

Harry sighed and looked Cho directly in the eye. "Thanks. It help to hear you say it, and not read it from a letter."

They continued hugging for a few minutes, before Harry said he had to go, but not before promising to be back soon.

Cho woke up. Looking at her alarm clock, she saw that she had only been sleeping for half an hour, just like Harry had said. Content, she lay back down, and fell asleep once agin for pleasent dreams about Harry …

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The rest of the year passed calmly. Hermione was studying like there was no tomorrow and telling everyone they should do likewise. "You realize OWLs are this year, don't you ?" was what she seemed to say the most. Ron would usually just roll his eyes, but was surprised to find himself studying more than before. '_It's probably because Harry's not here to drag me into trouble._' Thinking of Harry made Ron think of Voldemort. Nothing new had been heard of him, making Fudge become smug at his ignoring Dumbledores warning. He voices his thoughts to Hermione one day.

"Do you have any idea why we haven't heard anything new concerning You-Know-Who ?"

"Not really. My guess is that since he wants Harry, he won't attack unless he's sure Harry's here."

"I suppose so."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Cho was Seeker for her house Quidditch team. She, too, had received a new broom from Harry, and was amazed with it. During the match (Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff, 190-20), she had had to get used to the broom. She had received it only about one week prior to the match. She didn't mind. Harry had taken the time and made the effort to make her (and Ron and Ginny, she knew) a marvellous broom.

This made Cho think : not only had he the time and the patience to do so, he also had the power and the know-how. Harry would talk about a training plan during his letters and dream-hopping sessions, and she started to wonder what he was learning. As she continued to write every other day, she took the oportunity to ask about his training.

His answer was brief : everything. He was learning almost every potion that had ever existed, learning transfiguration, charms, curses and counter-curses. He also learned about magical creatures and herbology. Without forgetting astronomy and runes. He also mentionned rune magic, but Cho had no idea what that was. And Harry said he couldn't tell her what it was in a letter, but that he would show her when he got back. From the sounds of things, he was more advanced than her, in every domain. She would sometimes ask questions, and he would always answer the next day. And although he had proposed, she wouldn't let him correct her essays.

Harry was also very happy that Cho was good friends with Ron and Hermione, and but could approve of the friendship the 4 now shared. 

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Christmas came and went, the only notable event being the Christmas ball. Harry had managed to send presents to everyone of his penpals (beautiful necklaces with protectice charms on them), and, of course, they had all sent Harry a present using the 'Envoyus Urgentes' charm (Cho had sent a silver necklace, Sirius and Remus sent a prank book and a wizard camera, Ron a book on quidditch, Hermione sent a scrapbook full of pictures taken by the Creevies, and Ginny sent pictures of the quidditch team, before and during the match, not forgetting the celebration party). Ron finally had the guts to admit to Hermione that he had feelings for her. They've been an item ever since. Cho didn't go. She had turned down every boy that had asked her to go, saying that the only person she wanted to go with wasn't there. She stayed in the common room doing her homework.

After finishing her essay for the night, she put her things away and went to bed. Fingering the beautiful fine gold necklace with a tear-shaped saphire, she wondered what Harry was doing. She was soon asleep.

She was, for the third time, in her cloud dream where Harry would visit (A/N : nothing noteworthy happened the second time.) However, the scenery soon changed to become the Great Hall. The tables and benches had been moved to the side, and Christmas decorations were hanging all over the place. Multi-coloured lights were floating around. It was indeed a beautiful sight.

She was standing in the middle of the hall when the doors opened. She turned to see Harry, dressed in long dark green dress robes, with gold runes along the hem. Looking down, she saw she was dressed in dark blue dress robes, with silver runes along the hem.

"Hello Cho. You look beautiful tonight." Harry said as he arrived in front of her.

Cho blushed. "As do you, Harry. Green is so you."

Harry grinned. "I could make them bright orange and pink if you want."

Cho rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop the smile from reaching her lips.

"Well, I provided the place and the people. For the rest, I'm going to need you help, Cho."

Cho gave Harry a puzzled look. "What do you need my help for ?"

Harry gave a small smile. "Just think of a song you like."

Cho, despite finding the small demand strange, complied, thinking of different songs she would hear on the wizard radio. She found one she liked, as was surprised to hear the song being played. The music filled the hall, and it was impossible to say where the music was coming from. She looked at Harry, "How did you do that ?"

"I didn't do anything. You chose the song." Harry said, giving her his trademark lopsided grin. Bowing low, he offered her his hand and said : "May I have the pleasure of this dance ?"

Cho looked at him, the smile growing on her face. Looking around, she said "I dunno, there's so many people to chose from."

Harry gave her his best puppy-eyes look, failing miserably. This sent Cho laughing hysterically, and Harry joined in.

"I'll have to work on that look, among others."

"Which others ?"

"My evil look, for one." He made an attempt at glaring. To Cho, however, he looked like he was trying to squint and become cross-eyes at the same time, while sticking out his lower lip. Of course, this set Cho laughing again, and it was several minutes before she managed to regain control of herself.

Looking at Harry and holding his outstretched hand in hers, she said : "I would be delighted to have this dance."

They danced for what seemed hours. Cho thankfully knew enough songs to avoid hearing the same song twice. There were fast songs, and quite a few slow. Harry prefered these, often repeating that he was a really bad dancer. However, the time spent together was bliss for each of them. They would talk while they danced.

Eventually, the dream came to a close. They parted with a kiss, and Harry promised to come back.

Cho woke up. Looking at hear clock, she saw it was 7 o'clock in the morning. She had spent all night dreaming about Harry.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Voldemort was fuming. Harry was nowhere to be found. His spies couldn't find anything. None of his 'faithful' Death Eaters had any news except Snape. Snape had recently come back, saying that he hadn't come back after the first calling so as not to arouse Dumbledores suspicions. Voldemort performed the Crucio curse on Snape, causing him to writher in pain for several minutes before the curse was lifted.

Voldemort didn't trust him completely yet. He had come back too quickly for his taste. However, he was the only one who could bring back some news, _any_ news, about the boy-who-lived.

"Snape !!!" he yelled.

A figure, wearing a long, black, hooded cloak, his feature indistinguishable behind a mask, stepped forward and bowed. "Yes, master ?"

"Do you have any news about Potter ?"

"No my lord. It seems the boy only writes every fortnight, as Albus only gives us news of the boy being alive every 2 weeks. If this regularity is kept, Dumbledore should receive a new letter in 3 days time."

Snape stepped back, filling the hole he had created in the circle of death eaters. Voldemort looked around the circle. "And why is it that only Snape can give me some information ?"

"My lord, it seems that the Potter boy has dissappeared from the face of the earth …" said a voice on Snapes left.

"CRUCIO !!!" Voldemort screamed, causing the death eater to scream in pain as the Cruciatus curse acted. After keeping the curse for a whole 10 minutes, he lifted the wand. The man was alive, but only barely. "At the next meeting, I want to hear something, anything, from everyone !!! GOT THAT ?!?!"

A murmured "yes lord" swept through the assembly before all the death eaters dissapparated away to their respective homes, save Wormtail, who left to the place (you couldn't call it anything else) he and Voldemort were staying so as to make preparations for his masters return.

"I have to wait, because these incompetent fools aren't able to find one stupid, idiotic, boy" he hissed. "I can't attack Hogwarts, since that muggle-loving fool could hurt me. I have yet to attain the same power I had before forcefully leaving my body. I am forced to wait. Being patient, as any self respecting Syltherin is, and being forced to wait are 2 completely different things. And Lucius. He was useful before, but now, he seems incompetent. He can't even convince his son, his own flesh and blood, to follow me. I will have to keep a better eye on him from now on." He continued this monologue for some time, before leaving the scene, leaving little trace of the meeting that had just occured.

And while no attacks were made against Hogwarts, a few attacks were made against muggle-born wizards or against those who were very outspoken against the dark lord. Fudge, of course, continued denying that Voldemort was back, much to the dismay of many.

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The month of June approached. Everyone was studying for their end-of-year exams. 5th and 7th years were under even more stress because of their OWLs and NEWTs. Even Fred and George, being in their seventh and final year, were seen studying, although they vehemently denied doing anything of the sort( they DID have a reputation to defend, after all).

The exams came and went. The sky was blue, and since they no longer had lessons, they could laze about a bit and enjoy the weather. Ron, Hermione, Cho and Ginny would take long walks around the lake, or visit Hogsmead village. Cho had, once again, come out top of her year. Hermione and Ron would have to wait mid-summer before the results of their OWLs came And Ginny had done very well. Whilst not top of her year, she was certainly in the top five.

Eventually, slowly, the end of June came. Fred and George played a huge prank on the whole school, themselves excluded, at the end-of-year feast (the cup went to Ravenclaw), turning everyones skin different colours with polka dots and their hair another colour. They wanted to leave with style, and what better way to do so than that. Their belongings packed and placed in the scarlet steam train that would bring them to Kings Cross station. Upon arrival, they took their stuff and left the magical world into the muggle world. After promising to keep in touch and to see each other soon, Cho and Hermione left, while Ron and Ginny went home with their parents to the Burrow.


	4. Chapter 04 : Training Time

Disclaimer : 

I ain't got no money (du dun du dun),

I don't-a own Harry (du dun du dun),

Save for the plot it's belonging,

To J.K. Rowling.

PS : technically, 'Godrics Haven' is also mine, but that's not important. Plus, I didn't find anything that would rhyme with 'Haven' and that sounded good in the poem.

(Imitation is the greatest form of flattery).

Summary :

Harry goes somewhere during the summer holidays after his forth year. He comes back a year later to teach D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts).

Authors Note : 

First up, thanks to all those who have reviewed since the last chapter : **chochang913, Billy Bob Joe, Anya Dvorak, silverlime, toastedpaco, Wolfmoon, Eclipze, Quinbrm, Phoenix353 and Angel.**

Second, concerning my spelling : since I write in UK English (I hope), some people may find mistakes that aren't really so, just differences between UK and US English (i.e. : color and colour). If a mistake is recurrent, you can mention it in a review or send me a private e-mail. If a word is spelt badly and it sticks out like a sore thumb, likewise. I know my spelling isn't perfect, but I need to know which words are spelt wrong if I am to improve.

This chapter is Harrys POV on what happened from his leaving to his coming back. I wasn't planning on having it at first, but **chochang913** suggested it, so there you go. It's a brief summary of what happened during his absence.

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Harry felt energy – magic – coursing through his whole being. It wasn't painful in any way, it was actually quite pleasent, and slightly ticklish, truth be told. After what seemed like 5 minutes, the light receded, leaving him in what looked like a bedroom.

It was a large room, with four doors. Opposite the double-door was a big four-poster bed, in colours of red and gold. His trunk was at the foot of his bed (with all his personnel belongings inside it), and all his books, from first to forth year, were in a bookcase next to his bed. His broom, his trusty Firebolt, was proped up next to the bookcase. A large fire place was on the right wall, with 2 comfy seats and a couch in front of it, placed around a small table.

Next to the bed was a relatively small door. Walking up to it and opening, Harry realized it was a small clothes room, since his robes were neatly hung up un one side of the room, whereas all his other clothes were neatly folded away and put on shelves.

Closing the wardrobes door, he walked over to the second small door, and opened it to find a large bathroom. In the middle was a large bathtub sunk into the floor, much like a swimming pool is. It looked a bit like the prefects bathroom. There were also a shower stall on the furthest wall, and a pile of clear towels and bathrobes were placed on several shelves. Everything was white, and not a speck of dust was to be found, anywhere.

Opening the door of the last room, he entered a sort of office. A large desk was there, as well as a small personnal library. Looking through the desks draws, he found an ample supply of parchments, quills and ink pots.

There was only one door left : it was a large oak double-door opposite the bed. Walking over, Harry placed his hand on the door handle and slowly opened the door. Beyond stretched a corridor. He couldn't see the end of it. On each side, at irregular distances, were more doors. Harry didn't open any yet, as he had no idea what was behind each door. On each door, however, there was a small plaque with a word followed sometimes by a number : Transfiguration 1, Potions 1, Library, Dueling, Combat, … Harry did notice that most of the words were magic related, being names of lessons he had had at Hogwarts, and that the numbers varied from 1 to 8.

"_Haa–rryyy_" a voice called from in front, making Harry jump. "_Haaa-aarrryyyy_" the voice called again a few seconds later. There was no menace in the voice. More like … impatience. Harry slowly advanced, the end of the corridor coming into view. A door was there, on the far wall. A golden light seemed to be seeping through its cracks, bathing the small protion of corridor in an eerie light.

Approaching it, Harry could feel some kind of warmth coming from the door. Upon reaching it, he carefully touched the wood. It was warm, but not hot. He put his hand on the door handle, and slowly turned it, opening the door, and stepped into the light.

"_Hello Harry._"

Harry couldn't see anything in the room due to the golden light that he was bathing in. And yet, it wasn't blinding him. He didn't have to shield or close his eyes.

"Erm, hello ?"

"_You must be wondering where you are, are you not ?_"

"Erm … Actually, yeah, I am."

"_Very well. The answer to this question will answer another question of yours : why does Voldemort want to kill you ?_"

Harry gasped. This was a question he had asked Dumbledore, who had told him he would answer it only when Harry was ready. The voice must think that Harry was ready. "Urm, sir, are you sure I'm ready to have the answer to that question ?" Harry asked, doing his best to appear brave.

"_Yes, I am, for you are of age._"

"I thought that wizrds were only of age after 17 or 18. I'm only 15."

"_Times change, young one. In times before yours, wizards and witches were considered of age when they reached the age of 15. Thus, for us, you are of age._"

"What do you mean, 'us' ?"

"_First things first. First, where are you ? The answer is simple : elsewhere._"

"What do you mean, 'elsewhere' ?"

"_You are not where you were before. You can not be elsewhere but … elsewhere._"

"Some answer. Does this somewhere have a name ?"

"_It does, actually. It's called 'Godrics Haven'._"

_Godric_ ? "As in 'Godric Gryffindor' ?"

"_For example, yes._"

"But what am I doing here ? What will I do here ? Why am I here ?"

"_One question at a time. First, why are you here ? Answer : because you are my heir._"

Harry really wasn't expecting this. "And you are ?"

"_Haven't you guessed yet ?_"

"Godric Gryffindor ?"

"_Not quite but close enough. I am the memory of Godric as it is when he made this haven, so in a sense, I am Godric Gryffindor. I was good friends with all the Hogwarts founders, even Salazar, despite popular belief. Yet, Rowena Ravenclaw made a prophecy when a very powerful heir of Slytherin would appear, causing great chaos. The students he chose for his house are ambitious, no doubt about that. But a heir of Gryffindor would defeat him. Godric made these quarters to train the heir to defeat Slytherins heir when the time would come. However, his heir could only come here when he came of age, on his birthdate. That is why your father didn't come here. Indeed, you are the first person other than of of the Hogwarts four to have 'visited'._"

This was a lot of information for Harry to take in. "So what kind of training will I be getting ?"

"_Ah, good question. Readiness to learn. Good, good. Well, you will be learning everything. You will be taught normal magic, such as charms, transfiguration and more. Basically everything that can be taught at Hogwarts._"

"How do you know what's taught at Hogwarts ?"

"_Godric is one of the founders, remember ? Where was I ? Oh yes ! You'll also be learning extinct forms of magic, such as Rune magic …_"

"What's Rune magic ?"

"_Patience is a virtue. Besides, you'll be finding out soon enough. You'll also be learning Necromancy …_"

"NECROMANCY ?!?! WHAT DO I WANT TO LEARN NECROMANCY FOR ?!?!"

"_There's nothing wrong with learning Necromancy. It is one of the many forms of magic, and one of the more powerful ones, I might add. There's much more to necromancy than just raising skeletons. But you'll be learning all that soon enough. You'll also be learning unique skills, such as wandless magic. But enough of that. I sense a question in that mind of yours._"

"Erm, how long will my training take ?"

"_Ah, good question. Time passes differently here than where you live. You will spend several years here, about 6, if I'm not mistaken. However, only a year, more or less, will pass where you live, and you will have aged only one year._"

"So I'll be 16 when I get back. Will it be long enough to learn everything ?"

"_Yes, it is. Ah, I see another question._"

"Erm, it there a way for me to tell my friends ? I don't want then to get worried about my dissappearing for a year without telling anyone."

"_Ah, loyalty and nobility, traits greatly prized by Godric. He would be pleased, and proud. Yes, there is a way to send objects. A spell, a simple spell, is enough. You must touch the object that you want to send with your wand, or hand in the case of wandless magic, and say the incantation 'Envoyus' followed by the name of the envoyee and, for urgent packages 'Envoyes Urgentes'. A simple spell._"

"Who will I be taught by ?"

"_That depends on the subject. You will be taught by echos, memories of the 4 Hogwarts founders and their brightest students. I'm afraid History of Magic will be a bit harder, but what you will learn will be sufficent information for you._"

"Erm, can I ask one last question ?"

"_You just did. But you can ask another._"

"When do I start ?"

*************************************************************************************

Thus Harry started his training. He soon learned that the numbers on the doors was the level of spells that were taught in those particular classrooms. Harry had to carry a piece of parchment which would give him the schedule of his days lessons. He would have one days holiday every week. And he never had assignments. When his teachers, whoever they were, judged his level sufficient, he could 'pass year', so to speak. Pass level would be a more appropriate description.

Besides the lessons he would have had at Hogwarts, he had many other classes. He learned how to fight with a variety of weapons, and, towards the end of his training, could use efficiently every weapon. Of course, Harry could use some weapons better, and was particularly fond of broadswords, althouth he has also very skilled with 2 handed weapons (swords, axes and hammers). He wasn't so skilled with stringed balistic weapons, but didn't do too bad with throwing weapons. He also had lessons on how to make weapons, and how to take care of them. Without forgetting learning how to cast spells through the sword, increasing the damage done.

Harry also learned Necromancy, as he had been told. In fact, he quite enjoyed it and proved to be quite good at it. It was indeed more than just raising skeletons. Necromancy involved learning about undead creatures of all kinds, lessons on poisons, bone magic, and even, to a certain degree, healing and regeneration spells, and more. He passed quite quickly these lessons, and soon went on to learn more and more ancient, and powerful, necromantic spells.

He learned how to read ancient runes. He learned how to make magical runes, giving the object magical properties that were longer lasting than enchantments. There was also the rune magic he was told he would learn. Basically, he would trace in the air the rune which would act as a spell. Words were rarely used, and only for some of the more powerful spells.

He also realized that he was actually good in potions. He already knew that, but the fact was made crystal clear as the potions became more and more complex. Just because Snape wasn't breathing down his neck criticazing everything Harry did made a world of difference. He would even surprise himself and spend time researching diffent potion composents, and testing different combinations or substituting ingrediants to improve a potion.

Despite all the lessons, Harry still had free time. He could spend it in the library, looking up spells, potions and runes of all sorts. Or he could take a walk in one of the gardens, just enjoying nature. But his favourite pastime was still quidditch. There was a indoor pitch, and Harry could play with, and against, illusions, that played almost as well as the real thing. It wasn't as good as playing with his fellow housemates, but is wasn't a bad substitute.

Of course, he would regularly receive letters from all his friends. He was very happy that Cho had reacted the way she had, and was glad that she got on well with the rest of his friends. Sirius was, of course, always writing letters asking if he was okay, acting worse than a mother. He also managed to get the date right to send them a gift for christmas, and was glad they all liked it. Not forgetting the long letter of thanks he had received from Cho, Ron and Ginny for the brooms. Ron had written several feet of thanks, and Harry was sure Hermione must have stopped his from writing more. All, in all, he didn't feel alone. Plus, he could always go to the room where Godrics memory resided and talk to him. It was strange talking to a memory, but he was good company, and had sharp wit.

*************************************************************************************

Harry knew he was nearing the end of his training. He had mastered most of the subjects. Of course, Harry was very good in anything connected to the dark arts. This would be useful with what Harry had in mind.

Harry was presently training armed combat. He had been surprised to have been trained also in the use of muggle weaponry, guns and the like, but supposed that he had to be prepared for all circumstances.

Harry disliked fencing. The weapon seemed so fragile in his powerful hands. Harry had drastically changed. He had grown to reach his height of 6'2" (about 1m88), and was now of large build, very little of it being fat. Of course, he was still very agile, and surprisingly fast when the need arose. Of course, Harry could understand why some people liked fencing : the weapon was quick and light, and when used with a main-gauche (parrying blade), it was a very effective style when used in correct way. Harry still did't like it. He soon switched to one of his favourite weapons : a 2-handed war hammer. This was Harry's own personnal. He had made it himself, so it was tailor-made. He had made one or two others, but they were his first attempts. This one was near perfect. Harry had crafted several runes along the handle and on the head of the weapon, making it more than deadly. Alone, it was a formidable weapon. In Harry's competent hands, it could wreak havoc and destruction on a large scale.

Of course, Harry wouldn't be using any of his added bonuses. He wanted to train, and couldn't do so effectivly when being helped, even if it was his own doing. Starting slowly, he gradually increased the speed of his attacks, eventually making the hammer blur. He then started to slow down, eventually stopping. Harry stood, just breathing, when some clapping could be heard.

"_Well done Harry. That was very impressive._"

"Thanks Godric. Can I do anything for you ?"

"_I'm afraid not. And there's nothing I can do for you either. You have reached the end of your training. You have excelled in most, if not all subjects. Even potions, despite your saying the opposite. You will soon be returning. I am here to prepare you for your return._"

"I'm all ears, Godric."

"_Rather muscular ears, then. Anyway, I have taken the liberty of putting away all your presonnal belongings in your trunk, as well as many useful objects. A duplicate of the library, for example, and a range of weapons has also been placed at your disposal. You will have to put away your own personnal weapons, however. Your clothes, of course, have been put away. Not forgetting, your precious Firebolt broom, or your latest birthday presents._"

Whilst here, Harry had made it a small hobby to make objects, and then improve them. His weapons, for one. However, he was very proud of the trunk he had made for himself. It wasn't an ordinary trunk. Measuring about 2 metres in length, 1 metre in width and 70cm (a bit more than 2 feet) in hight, it had 9 locks on the long side, and 7 on the top. The locks on the long side caused the trunk to open into a compartment of different sizes, which could hold many an object. By using the key holes on the top of the trunk, you would enter a room. Harry had different rooms for different uses : bedroom, workroom, combat training room, weapons room (where he kept all his weapons), personnal (and rather big) library, and others. Along the sides were many protection, strengthening and anti-burglar runes, along with a whole range of charms and enchantments, just to be on the safe side.

Concerning his latest birthday presents, Harry smiled as he recalled that he had recieved quite a few presents from his friends not long ago. He supposed that it was the 31st of July for them. Ron had sent a self-updating book on brooms, Hermione had sent scrapbook containing photos of hers and Rons fifth year that Colin had taken, Ginny had sent a box of chocolate frogs (she was over her crush of Harry, and had gone out for a while with Dean Thomas, but they broke up), Sirius and Remus had sent Harry's parents wedding rings (Harry had cried when he saw the rings) and Cho had sent him a necklace. In her note, she explained that the necklace was charmed to recognize its twin, and would warm when it's twin was close. Of course, she was the one wearing the twin necklace.

"Thank you Godric."

"_Don't thanks me lad. It's not like it took much of my time or effort._"

"It's gonna be strange going back and seeing all my friends again."

"_There are certain things you should know first. You are still a 16 year old boy _(AN : this takes place just after the 31st of July, our time)_, but have already reached your full physical height. This means you are still subject to teenage worries along with the others, without the growing pains or voice troubles. Also, whilst you have learned a lot of things here, you do not know everything. You can still learn. And lastly, a warning : you are powerful. Immensly so. But so is Voldemort, as are his followers. Do NOT, under ANY circumstances, take them lightly._"

"Thank you Goldric, for everything. What date will it be when I get back ?"

"_Lest week of August._"

"Okay. I can't go back to school, since they can't teach me anything. What can I do ?"

"_You could become a teacher._"

"Me, a teacher ? I don't think so, uh huh, nope, no way, zilch, nada."

"_Why ever not ?_"

"Well …" However, the more he though about it, the less ideas came to mind. Quite the opposite. He actually found it to be a good idea. "Actually, that's a good idea. I think I'll take you up on that."

"_Told you so._"

"Erm, something just came to mind. How will I be getting back ? And where will I be ?"

"_Aha, good question. That, my friend, depends on you. You will have to tell me where you want to go._"

"Well, if I am to become a teacher, I choose to appear to Albus Dumbledore."

"_A wise choice. And a very powerful wizard. Not as powerful as you or Voldemort, but he holds his own very well._"

"When will I leave ?"

"_As soon as you're ready. Meet me in my room and I'll give you your last instructions._"

Harry left the room carrying his warhammer, and went to his private chambers. Opening his trunk, he placed the weapon in the appropriate room. He went into his bathroom and took one last, long, relaxing bath. It was the last one he was going to have. He was going to miss this place, but he missed his friends more. Upon finishing his bath, he dryed and went into his trunks bedroom, where his wardrobe was. He changed into muggle-style army trousers and a black t-shirt. Black army-style boots on his feet, he completed his _ensemble_ with a dark green hooded cloak. Gold and silver runes lined the hem. It was stylish, but above all practical in case anything happened. Admiring himself in the mirror, he exited the trunk. Locking it, he shrunk it using wandless magic (having mastered it after a lot of hard and stressful training), he pocketed his trunk and wand. He didn't want anyone to know that he could do wandless magic, not yet anyway.

Entering his work room, he wrote a quick note to each of his correspondants (except Dumbledore) saying that he would be unreachable for a few weeks, but that he would contact them when he was reachable once more. He sent the letters urgently, before sending a letter to Dumbledore saying he would contact him soon.

Harry conjured up a wizarding camera and was decided upon taking photos of each and every room. He took one last look at the room that had been his all this time, took a few photos, and left, closing the door behind him. He walked the length of the corridor, stopping by every door to take on last look in each of them, without forgetting to take at least one photo. Finally, he reached the end of the corridor, and entered the room. It was no longer the golden light-filled room that it had been when he had first been here. Now, it looked remarkably like the Gryffindor common room, but considering Godric himself had built the haven, it wasn't so surprising after all.

"_Ah, there you are. Ready, are you ?_"

"Yes Godric, I am."

"_Good. You have been a most special student, and I wish you good luck, whatever task you undertake._"

"Thank you. It is an honour to have known you, Godric. And I will never forget my stay here."

"_It has also been an honour to have known you, Harry James Gryffindor Potter. To leave, you must enter the fire in the fireplace, pronouncing the name of the place you wish to go, not unlike the floo network, without the powder. But with that sickening spinning effect._"

"Drat. I was hoping that would be the case. Oh well, I better be off. Thanks again."

With that, Harry put up his hood and stepped into the fire, saying "Hogwarts headmasters office."


	5. Chapter 05 : Arrangements made, and the ...

Disclaimer : 

Nothing is mine,

Save for the plot,

J.K. Rowling

Owns the lot.

Summary :

Harry goes somewhere during the summer holidays after his forth year. He comes back a year later to teach D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts).

Authors Note : 

As usual, I would like to start by thanking all those who took the time to review. It's really encouraging to see that your story is appreciated. Thanks to : **wquad, Wolfmoon, Elektra Joradees Gamblin, (Anonymous), Quidbrm, Rachel A. Prongs, toastedpaco, LittleEar BigEar's sis, and Phoenix353.**

This chapter was updated since 2 kind-hearted and smart reviewer noticed small plot glitches. Thanks to Matt and Phoenix353 for noticing.

This chapter is about Harrys' return to Hogwarts, the train from King's Cross to Hogwarts and the feast.

*************************************************************************************

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in front of his desk. Many papers were in front of him on his desk, and he was busy reading them, occasionally signing a paper and placing it to the side.

His office, a rather large circular room, was the same as it had always been. Animated painting of former headmasters' were on the walls, and there were many magical gadgets to be seen. Fawkes was also there. The phoenix was asleep on his perch, his head tucked under his wing.

Albus Dumbledore looked quite tired and strained. He had spent the year wondering where Voldemort would strike, and doing his best to organize some sort of resistance. Sirius had been sent to visit what was refered to as the old crowd, a large group of close-knit friends from different houses, Slytherin included, who trusted each other. They had fought Voldemort years ago, during his first rise to power, and Dumbledore would need their help soon, if not immediately.

He was distracted, however, as the fire blazed green. He wasn't expecting anyone, and did what any respectful wizard would do : he drew his wand.

A tall green-cloaked figure stepped out of the fireplace. Once firmly on his feet, he drew himself up to his full height. Albus saw he was slightly smaller than himself, but was much larger. His hood was up, not allowing Albus to see his face. And from just his physical description, Albus was unable to say who this stranger was. The former just looked around, as if taking everything in. Finally, he turned towards Albus, and took a small step back.

"Now, now, professor. I won't hurt you." He said with a small chuckle.

Albus could recognize the voice. It was the voice of a certain short scrawney green-eyed raven-haired boy. But deeper, more … mature. Albus lowered his wand. "Harry ?"

Harry removed his hood. Albus saw how much the boy had changed. He was nothing like the scrawney little boy that had first entered Hogwarts. He had reached maturity, and his eyes held a fire, that of wisdom and knowledge. And determination. The way he stood was that of someone with a lot of physical strength, and the ability to use it to the full.

"Hello sir. I hope you're well."

Albus smiled a grandfatherly smile, and the twinkle in his eye was ever present. "I'm well Harry. You've changed some."

"That's one way of putting it." Harry answered, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"You said you would like to make me a proposal."

"Yes professor." Harry said, seating himself opposite his former headmaster. "I would like to pass my O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s before the start of school term. And then join the Hogwarts staff."

"Become a teacher ? Which lesson ?"

"I was thinking of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Although thanks to my training, I could honestly replace the teacher for any of the lessons. Except Divination." Harry let out an involontary shudder and Albus gave a small chuckle. "That's the one thing I refuse to teach."

"Remus has been occupying the post of DADA teacher this year. His 'problem' wasn't too much of a problem this year, thank goodness."

"His second year. Amazing. Maybe he broke the curse." They both chuckled. "I was thinking professor. Painful experience, by the way. Professor Lupin could teach the first to forth years, while I take the fifth to seventh years. We could also teach wand duelling, and I could teaching weapon and hand-to-hand combat. Of course, the two latter courses would be optional lessons, and only given to those who would use them well."

"You have been giving it some thought, haven't you. Now, I would have to pull a few strings to let you pass your exams, but it shouldn't be to much of a problem. As for being a teacher, I would have to make the suggestion to professor Lupin, but I don't think he would have any objections."

"Another thing professor. I don't want it known that I'm back yet. At least, to to the masses. Voldemort is likely to attack soon after learning my whereabouts."

"Quite right Harry. It's most infuriating, knowing he has risen once again, yet not manifesting his presence save for the odd attack on muggle-born wizards. Fudge is almost exstatic, sometimes sending me owls telling me had has taken the right course of action."

"Fudge is probably the biggest idiot I've ever met. I would use another word than 'idiot', but he is still the minister, and I am surrounded by chaste ears."

"When are you planning on letting your identity be known ?"

"I was planning on being on the train bringing the students to Hogwarts, in case Voldemort tries any funny business. After that, I was hoping to leave it a week before showing myself to my friends, as I was hoping to see my family later."

"Family ?"

Harry gave a small smile. "Whilst not blood related, Sirius and Remus are the closest people I've got for a father and an uncle."

"I'm sure they would be very happy and proud to hear that. Pardon my interruption."

"No worry. I haven't thought farther than that. I suppose the staff would have to know, since I'll be close to them. That's it. I'll be needing sleeping quarters, of course."

"Of course. I suppose you would like to be close to the Gryffindor tower."

"That would be perfect."

"Do you have any belongings ?"

Harry patted his pocket. "Shrunk my trunk."

"Let's go then."

Albus got up, as did Harry who lifted his hood, as they began to make their way towards Harrys' new sleeping quarters. Along the way, Harry gave a brief summary of where he was, his 'teachers', and the training he had followed. Albus listened closely, and seemed interested in the Rune magic and Necromancy.

"Who taught Necromancy ?"

"Salazar Slytherin did. He may not have been evil, but he still was VERY interested in what's considered to be the dark arts as a whole. I would suggest it be taught here, but I wouldn't have the time or the energy to do so."

Upon arriving before a painting depicting a sunset landscape, Albus and Harry stopped.

"This is the entrance to your new quarters. The entrance to the Gryffindor commonroom is just around the corner. As a teacher, you will be kept up to date as the password changes. For now, you'll have to think of a password for your own quarters."

Harrys' brow creased slightly as he gave it some thought. "I don't want a password. It can be overheard, or guessed. Could I rather enchant one of the stones to recognize who I want it to, and grant them entrance ?"

"Excellent idea, Harry."

Harry moved to the side of the painting. Choosing a stone, he placed his wand upon it and chanted in an undertone. After 20 or so seconds, the stone started to glow a gold light. Harry removed his wand and placed his hand upon the stone. Saying his full name (Harry James Gryffindor Potter), the stone stopped glowing, and looked like any of the surrounding stones. Placing his wand against the stone once again, he chanted another incantation, similar to the first. The stone started to glow again, but a bright silver this time. Indicating for Albus to come over, he said, "Place your hand upon the stone and say your full name. Albus complied (Albus Hikmat Winfred Dumbledore), and the glow receded, leaving a normal-looking stone once again.

"Harry, why did you make it glow a different light ?"

"I want to place levels of security. I could give different people different levels of priority. This means that, for any reason, I could block people under a certain level from entering. I could allow certain students to enter in normal circumstances, but block them if need be, only allowing teachers or above to enter. I could also place a trap, that imprisons those who try to gain unwanted entry."

"Very clever."

Harry smiled. "Thanks."

"Pray tell, what level did you put me in ?"

"Ah ha. You are level 3. Since they are to be my personnal chambers, I am level 1.

"Well, now that my curiosity has been satisfied, let me show you were you will live for the next few months." Albus placed his hand on the stone, and the painting slid to the side, leaving a respectable entranceway. Albus stepped in first, followed by Harry, who removed his hood once he was inside.

It was a large common-room type room, measuring about 15 metres in length and 10 in width. The entrace hole was half way across the room. On the left wall was a fireplace, a large fire burning merrily away. A sofa and 2 comfy chairs surrounded a coffee table in front of the fire. The floor was covered in a dark blue carpet. Near the fireplace were 2 empty sets of shelves Opposite the entrace hole, slightly to the left, was a door, that Harry soon found out let into a small private office/library type room. Not as large or as extensive as Harrys', but not bad all things considered. Next to the library was a small storeroom, empty at present. On the right wall, opposite the fireplace, there was a set of stairs that let to a balcony that went around the room. There were 4 doors (one left, 2 opposite and one to the right of the entrance hole) : 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a spare room (which Harry had no idea what he would do with). The main bedroom, which was above the fire place, had a staircase down leading into another room. And the spare room (on the wall opposite the fireplace) had a door leading to another equally-sized room (making it a room behind the fireplace).

"Well Harry, what do you think ?"

"It's really great sir. Magnificent. How can I thank you enough ?"

"By being a good teacher" Albus answered, with a twinkle in his eye.

"There's just one thing missing." Before Albus could ask what, Harry walked over to the entrance hole and conjured up a large full-length mirror using his wand. Placing it next to the entrance hole, he enchanted it so that he could see who was next to the entrance hole when need be.

"There are just 3 small matters left to be discussed." Albus said.

"Yes ?" Harry said, turning to face Albus.

"First, since you will be a teacher, you will have to start calling me 'Albus'. Sir will no longer be acceptable, and will even be suspicious. Headmaster will do at first, but try to adapt."

"I'll try, sir, errr, Albus, but it won't be easy."

"You'll soon get the hang of it. Next matter concerns your name. Since you wish to remain annonymous, you cannot go around being called 'Professor Potter', can you ?"

"No. I hadn't thought of that. But, what will I be called ?"

"I'll leave you to find a name."

Harry thought for a moment. "Well, for a first name, err, James. James Andrews. That sounds quite good."

"Excellent. Now, professor Andrews, last of all, when do you want to see Sirius ?"

*************************************************************************************

Sirius had visited as soon as Dumbledore had contacted his, telling him that Harry had returned. Sirius was almost brought to tears in seeing how much Harry had grown during his absence. Remus had also come, and the three of them spend a few evenings catching up. Harry had also been 'introduced' to professor McGonagall, who had cried at seeing Harry again. Hagrid had also shed more than a few tears, and had held him in a bone-crushing hug. Harry had performed the entrance charm for them (Sirius and Lupin were level 4, wheras McGonagall and Hagrid were level 5). Lupin was pleased with sharing the duelling lessons with Harry, and was enthusiastic about the combat lessons. He even considered joining.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The week passed quickly, and Harry was able to pass his O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. He had done brilliantly, passing every one, not doing so well in History of Magic, but enough to get by.

It was now the first of September. A Thursday. Harry was standing near the entrance of platform 9 ¾. He had been there since 8 o'clock in the morning, and was thankful for the fact it wasn't raining, despite the grey clouds in the sky.

He was dressed in black boots, trousers and a long-sleeved dark-grey shirt. Today, he was wearing a dark red-and-gold cloak, with a number of silver runes along the hem. His hood was pulled up, since he didn't want to be recognized just yet, and had been charmed so as to prevent it from falling under any circumstances. Harry had also placed a voice-modifying charm, so that no one could recognize him by his voice. On his back was his 2-handed warhammer. It was magically attached, meaning there were no annoying straps. It was almost glued on. '_One of the more practical runes, all things considered_' Harry mused. Most of the people who entered gave his a small nod of greeting, save for the first years who walked quickly on.

It was now half-past-ten, and a large crowd of students had already arrived. He hadn't seen Hermione, Cho, or any of the Weasley family yet. '_Nor Malfoy, for that matter_', Harry thought for himself. '_Ah, speak of the devil …_' just as Malfoy passed through the barrier, next to his smarmy-looking father. They both gave Harry a look, almost a stare. Whilst Malfoy had grown, he was still at least half a foot shorter than Harry, and much thinner, lacking muscle. They must have decided he wasn't worth looking at, judging by their faces, as they left without glancing behing them. Lucius helped Draco onto the train, then left.

Time passed. It was now a quarter-to-ten. Just then, A tall red-haired boy entered platform 9 ¾, walking next to a bushy brown-haired girl. Ron and Hermione. They were both pushing their trunks, and seemed to be looking in the crowd for someone. '_Me_' Harry thought, letting a small smile creep its way onto his lips. They were soon followed by Ginny and Molly Weasley. '_That's it ?_' Harry thought as the 4 made their way towards the train. Then he remembered. Fred and George had graduated, and had opened a joke shop in Diagon Alley. Ron had told him in one of his letters, and they had sent a few photos showing different people in embarasing situations due to their jokes and pranks. '_And Arthur Weasley, along with Percy, were probably working_' Harry thought, although the thought of Percy NOT working would be more shocking.

His train of thoughts weas interrupted by the arrival of someone. And not just anyone. C_ho_. She was still as beautiful. And she had grown. Harry had a small smile, thinking that she was a bit bigger than Malfoy. She was followed by two people Harry guessed were her parents. He could only just hear them giving a last piece of advice defore hugging Cho goodbye, and exiting.

Cho suddenly looked up, and started to look around. Harry wondered why, and then, BAM. The necklace he was wearing, the one Cho had given him, it was warm. Chos' must be too. '_Oh bugger_' Harry thought. He quickly turned around, and took it out. It was warm to the touch. Harry quickly cast a small masking charm on it. The necklace glowed with a light purple light before resuming its original shine. It was no longer warm. Harry put it away again, and turned back to look at Cho. She was fingering the necklace, but had stopped looking around, and was instead heading towards the train stopping just before it, and made a first attempt to put her trunk on board. It looked heavy, and she seemed to be struggling, so Harry made his way over.

"Excuse me, do you need any help ?"

Cho looked up, and gave a small smile. "Yes, thanks."

Harry picked up the trunk, and he could see the look of surprise on Chos face. '_He makes it look so easy_', she thought. He brought it in and placed it in a free space.

"There you go."

"Thanks. Whats your name ?"

"I'm professor Andrews. I'll be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts for fifth years and up."

"Nice to meet you. I suppose I'l be seing you soon."

Harry hopped off the train, and went back to waiting near the entrance. He saw Cho exit the train, put her trolley away, and make her way towards Ron, Hermione and Ginny, who were leaning out of a cabin window to speak to Molly Weasley. 

The last few minutes passed, and Harry boarded the train just before it left. He started at the back, and made his way swiftly forward, checking in every compartment to see if everything was OK. What worried him, as he neared the front of the train, was that he had yet to see the Crabbe-Goyle-Malfoy trio. He eventualy reached the very front compartment, the one he usually was in with Ron and Hermione. Upon nearing it, he saw Goyle and Crabbe in front of the door, sniggering, while the voice of Malfoy could be heard.

"So, Potty still isn't here ? Shame. The sooner he gets back, the sooner the dark lord will deal with him."

"Just stuff off Malfoy" Ron answered.

As he made his was forward, he tried to guess who would be in the compartment. From what he remembered, there would be 4 people : Cho, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Seeing his approach, Goyle and Crabbe straightened out and tried to look menacingly at Harry. However, Harry was about as tall as them, and his clothing left no doubt as to what physical shape he was in. Without forgetting the weapon that he was carrying on his back. As he approached, they both quavered slightly, before stepping back.

Upon reaching the door, Harry shooed (AN : yes, the word exists) Crabbe and Goyle away, and looked in the cabin. Malfoy was standing in front of the foursome, Ron sitting next to Hermione, holding her hand, and Cho next to Ginny. They were all four looking at Malfoy with loathing and disgust in their eyes.

"And Granger. You may be a prefect, but you've no taste, taking weasel here for your boyfriend." Malfoy drawled on. "What did you do, buy him ?"

Ron would have jumped Draco, had he not seen Harry standing behind him. Draco, however, never had the opportunity, as Harry grabbed the back of his robes and flung his backward into the corridor. Draco hit the wall with a bang, his eyes losing their focus for a few seconds. He looked up and, seeing Harry, slowly stood up. Noticing his 2 goons were standing several meters away, fear in their eyes, he realized he was alone on this one. He drew himself to his full height, and attempted to look Harry straight in the eye.

A intimidation tactic was to let your magical aura flow around you, letting your adversary know how powerful you are. Draco did so. Harry looked on, as did everyone else. Draco was powerful. Not amazingly so, but more than the average wizard.

"That all you can do ?" Harry asked.

Draco frowned. "Let's see what you can do than" Draco sneered back, rather bravely in Harrys' opinion.

Harry slowly realeased his power. It built up, and soon was greater than Dracos. But it didn't stop. Harry directed his aura towards Draco, who could feel the preasure of Harrys' aura pushing, almost beating itself into him. Draco was sweating, and Crabbe and Golye were powerless to do anything.

"Is that enough, or do you want me to continue ?" Harry sneered, letting the contempt be clearly heard in his voice. Draco said nothing, but stopped his aura. Harry did likewise.

Draco chose this moment to say something very stupid. "If you try anything against me, my father shall hear of it."

He had barely finished his sentance when he felt himself slam into the wall behind him, for the second time. Harry brought his face very close and hissed "I know who your father is, and, more importantly, _WHAT_ he is. And I'm not scared of him in any way. Bring him to me, and he won't leave unscathed." Harry dumped Draco unceremoniously on the floor. "Now go, before I take off house points and give detention, even before the school year has started." Draco did the smartest thing yet, and quickly left, followed by Goyle and Crabbe.

Harry turned to the cabin, only to see his friends looking at him. Cho was the first to speak.

"Wow professor. That was incredible."

"About time someone did that to that git" Ron seconded.

Ginny glanced nervously at the floor, while Hermione asked "won't you get into trouble for doing that ?"

"If I would get into trouble, I wouldn't have done it" Harry answered. He entered the compartment and closed the door behind him. "Let me present myself : I am professor Andrews. I'll be teaching DADA for fifth to seventh years."

"What will we be learning this year professor ?" Hermione eagerly asked, while Ron rolled his eyes.

"Fifth years will be learning about curses and shields, sixth years about various dark creatures and seventh years will be learning a mixture of both. I'll also be teaching duelling with professor Lupin and combat training. Both these courses are optionnal, however, and will only be taught to those I deem worthy. Do you mind if I sleep here, the rest of the train is rather full."

"Not at all, professor. When do you want us to wake you up ?" Hermione answered.

"Whenever the trolley lady passes. I'll probably be hungry by then. And don't worry about waking me up, no need to speak in whispers. And don't hesitate to wake me if anything happens." With that, Harry tookl the seat next to the door, put his warhammer beside him, and fell asleep.

The 4 friends spoke for the whole trip. They were also visited by different people they knew. They woke Harry whan the goods-trolley passed, and he had bought some cauldren cakes, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beams and some chocolate frogs, which he had shared with all present. They spent the rest of the trip speaking, save Hermione, who had to go to an hour-long prefects meeting shortly after lunch. Harry was careful to remain distant, as a professor would. They tried to ask him questions about himself, but he would give as evaisive answers as possible, without actually lying. He just couldn't lie to his friends.

They did seem a bit shocked when they learned he was only 16.

"How come you're a teacher and you're just 16 ?" Cho had questionned, "not meaning to be disrespectful."

"I've had special training." Was all Harry had answered.

During the trip, Harry had muttered a spell which permitted the caster to see the magical aura that surround wizards and witches, letting them have a rough estimate of their magical power. Hermione, he saw, was very powerful. Not as much as Dumbledore, and no way as powerful as himself, but way above average. Cho and Ron weren't far behind, and Ginny was slightly behind that. This was good, since they all seemed interested in the duelling lessons.

Thay had nearly arrived at Hogwarts, and thay sky had decided that rain would end the day. It wasn't a downpour, but rain was coming down at a respectable rate. Ron and Harry had left the cabin to let the gils put on their robes. Harry had managed to get a better look at Ron physically. He was slightly taller than Harry, and had develloped quite a muscular frame from playing keeper. He was no way as physically strong as Harry, but it wasn't negligible, and could improve with proper training. Harry briefly wondered why Draco still dared to insult them with Hermiones magic power and Rons physical strength. Harry had had to leave 5 minutes prior to arrival. As soon as the train arrived, he exited the carriage, and joined Hagrid to bring the first years to the castle that would be their home for the next 10 months.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The students had entered the hall and were seated, the first years had been sorted, and Dumbledore had just stood up. The teachers table was complete, save for one seat where Harry should have been sitting, next to professor Lupin. Harry had had to check something in the grounds with Hagrid, in the rain. Poor them.

"Another start of year. Just enough time to cram our heads with knowledge. Never let pass an opportunity to learn. I will repeat it once again : despite what the misistry says, Voldemort (everyone, save Dumbledore and Lupin flinched) HAS returned. It's not because he has shown no signs that he hasn't returned. The forbidden forest is just that, forbidden. Also, Argus Filch has told me that Screeching frizbees have been added to the forbidden items list. The complete list of 657 articles can be seen in his office. And no student, other than prefects, will be permitten unaccompanied outside their commonrooms afer 9 o' clock. On a lighter note, we have a new teacher this year, who will be teaching advanced Defance Against the Dark Arts, as well as duelling and combat, both of which are optionnal courses. Both courses are only available to third years and above. A paper will be sent to each common room tonight, and all those interested in one of the courses will be able to sign up. He is out in the forest at the moment …"

**BANG !!!**

The grand halls double doors were flung open. All heads turned towards the doors. There stood Harry, his features indistinguishable under his hood. His cloak was wet, and water was dripping off it onto the floor. His warhammer was still on his back. It was an impressive sight. Harry didn't move, he was too busy scanning the great hall. Then, slowly, he walked forward, the eyes of every student (and several teachers) upon him and the echo of his boots easily heard in the silence. He made his way towards the teachers table, and sat in the sat next to Remus Lupin. Sirius, in dogs form, was at Lupins feet.

"I ask you to welcome … professor Andrews."

A few people clapped : Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lupin, Cho, Ron, Hermione and Ginny, as well as a few other Gryffindors and Ravenclaw who had spoken with Ron, Hermione or Cho. Harry didn't seem bothered, and the smattering of applause quickly died down.

"Now, for the most important part : tuck in."

Food magically appeared on every plate, and the whole hall started to bustle with talking and laughter. Dumbledore leant towards Harry and whispered "You certainly know how to make an entrance."

Harry leant towards Dumbledore and whispered back "Always wanted to do that. Hadrig had to put his crossbow away. He will be arriving shortly" before turning and starting to eat. He had quickly finished, despite having taken a large serving, and was soon making small talk with several of the teachers. He even surprised himself when he spoke for a short while with Snape on potions, discussing ingredients and the like.

The meal was soon over, and the plates were cleared. Dumbledore stood up again, and said : "prefects, will you now bring students back to their common rooms. Lessons start tomorrow. Have a good night all."

Students left, following their respective house prefects. Harry noticed Malfoy had been made prefect this year, and wondered how much his father had had to pay to get that.

"Well, I'm off to bed," Lupin said. I believe I have the forth years tomorrow morning.

"Good luck. You'll need it." Harry quipped back. "I'll walk with you to your chambers."

Harry and Lupin bid the other teachers goodnight, and left the great hall. When they were sure they were alone, Lupin asked : "So, do you know when you'll tell them."

"I'm hesitating between giving them detection at the same time or making an appointment."

"I'd say an appointment. They'll be happy to see you, and it would be suspicious if they came back happy from detention."

"I suppose so. I'll see them after my DADA classes next week, and speak to them."

"Good man."

They arrived at Lupins quarters. Harry stepped in to say a quick hello to Sirius, who was posing as Lupins faithful dog, before heading towards his own quarters.


	6. Chapter 06 : The Beginning of the School...

Disclaimer : 

Still isn't mine,

Never will be,

Except for the plot,

That you shall see.

(Okay, that sucked, but it's half one in the morning and I'm tired. Give me a break here.)

Summary :

Harry goes somewhere during the summer holidays after his forth year. He comes back a year later to teach D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts).

Authors Note : 

As usual, I would like to start by thanking all those who took the time to review. It's really encouraging to see that your story is appreciated. Thanks to : **LittleEar BigEar's sis, angel, Professor Granger, Matt, Rishi, Miranda Flairgold, Naia, toastedpaco, Elektra Joradees Gamblin, Phoenix353, Elspethelf, unknown(even to me), Moony (**I like the pairing, although that's probably because I know a half-Chinese girl who's HOT, … erm, yeah**) and silverlime.**

This chapter is about Harrys' beginning of the year, including his first fighting lessons.

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Harry didn't have any lessons the next day, a Friday, so he had spent a part of the day patrolling the school, the other part preparing for the evenings lessons. He was quite happy about that. He had recieved the lists of people who had signed up for duelling and combat. There was a surprisingly small amount of people who had signed up for the combat lessons, and most were Gryffindor. There were 13 from Gryffindor (Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Seamus had signed up, amonst others), 4 Ravenclaw (Cho included), 4 Slytherin (Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and a 5th year that Harry didn't know) and only 3 Hufflepuff (Justin Finch-Fletchley and Hannah Abbott, along with a 4th year Harry didn't know). And Remus, of course, but he wouldn't be on the students list. Harry thought that most of the students didn't think they would need the combat course, as they would rely solely on magic.

Dumbledore had placed the combat lessons on Friday evenings, from 7 till 9, whereas duelling lessons were tuesdays, also from 7 till 9. Harry just wished he had had more time to prepare for his first lesson. He had decided to teach them all the basics of sword fighting at first. Then, he could make half the lesson for sword fighting, he otherhalf would be learning a weapon of their choice. That way, they are better prepared.

Harry had quite an extensive array of swords, and Dumbledore had told Harry of the existance of several weapon rooms in the castle. He hadn't had the time yet to try and find them, and had no need for the moment. The day passed calmly, and Harry had prepared what he would need for his lessons and for future DADA classes. 25 swords had had dulling charms placed on them, meaning the students wouldn't be mortally wounded if they were hit. Just in great pain.

At around half-past-five, Remus came around to Harrys' living quarters, and they left for dinner together. Harry took along the trunk containing the swords, since the lessons would be given in the great hall. They chatted on the way there. Since Remus had expressed his desire to join Harrys' courses, Harry had inquired as to what fighting abilities Remus had. As it turned out, he was quite skilled in gaultlet fighting. Generally, the gauntlets have blades on them, to inflige additionnal damage. Plus, Remus benefitted from enhanced strength, endurance, agility and speed that came with being a werewolf.

They arrived in the great hall. A few students were already there, as were a few teachers chatting away at the head table. No one paid much attention as they entered and made their way towards the head table. Harry placed his trunk slightly to the side, and sat down. At 6 o'clock, everyone was seated, and dinner began. It was, thankfully, an uneventful meal, most likely due to the absence of Fred and George. The meal lasted about half an hour, before students started to drift away. At 5 minutes to seven, Harry asked all the students to leave so that he could prepare for the course. Of course, they had no choice but to oblige.

Once the great hall was empty of all the students, and all the teachers save Remus, Harry moved all the tables and chairs to the sides with a wave of his wand. He also brought the trunk in front of the stage.

At seven on the dot, Harry opened the doors. In the entrance hall were some fifty-odd people, more than what was on the list.

"First, those who wish to be spectators, enter and take a seat. This is a lesson, and silence will be required." About half of those present entered. There wasn't just students present. Several teachers were also there, such as Dumbledore, McGonagall and … _Snape_ ? '_That's a surprise_' Harry thought to himself as his former potions master took a seat next to the headmaster. Turning back to the rest of the students, Harry said in a loud voice, "the rest of you, place yourselves somewhere in the hall. Don't be too far from the stage, so as to be able to see what I am doing. And make sure that you have enough space. I don't want anyone unnecessarily hurt."

The rest of the students entered. They tended to stay according to their houses, although Cho was in between the Gryffindor and the Ravenclaw students. Remus was near Ron and Hermione, and insisted they call him 'Remus', since he was as much a student as they were in this class. Once they were arranged in an orderly way, Harry distributed them swords, checking to be sure the dulling charms were still in place. He then made his way back to the stage.

"Now. Some basic rules will have to be followed by all present, for your own safety. First, you will obey what I say. Refusal to do so will result in the removal of house points, detention, or removal from this course. Second : if any student makes any attempt to harm another student outside a duel, the same measures will be applied. This includes enchanting the sword in any way. I will tolerate no exceptions. Third, I will not tollerate any behaviour that puts a fellow student down. If you disagree with any of these rules, you can place your sword back in the trunk and leave." No one moved. "Good. Now, a question. Does anyone here have any armed combat knowledge whatsoever ?"

Remus, Cho, Hermione and Draco raised their hands. Harry already knew of Remuses, but asked the others.

"Miss Granger ?"

"I have some knowledge in fencing, sir. My parents made me take it a few years ago, and I kept doing it furing the summer holidays."

"Mr Malfoy ?"

"Fencing also, since I was 8, sir." With the same drawl he always had when answering.

"Miss Chang ?"

"I have some knowledge with daggers and knives, professor."

"Combat or throwing ?" Harry questionned.

"Both, sir."

'_Good, she can be a valuable asset_' Harry thought to himself.

"Okay. At first, we will be concentrating on normal swordsplay. After a time I see fit, probably about a month or so, I will be teaching you a second weapon, of your choice. Now, these lessons won't be easy. I am not training you to be able to prance about swinging from chandeliers, waving a sword in the air. You will learn to harm someone. To physically impair them. That is why I will have no qualms as to throwing someone out if they refuse to follow basic safety guidelines. Last of all, for next lessons, you will be expected to wear something less cumbersome than your school robes. I suggest plain trousers and t-shirt, with comfortable shoes. Or something along those lines."

Harry then started the lesson. He taught a few basic moves and counters, before pairing everyone up to practice. Hermione went with Cho, while Remus went with Ron ("But I can't attack a teacher," he kept saying). When it was 9 o'clock, Harry made everyone put the sword away.

He had been paying attention during the lessons, making corrections when necessary. Malfoy had a tendancy to hold the sword too much like a fencing rapier. A normal sword is heavier than a rapier, and requires more arm mouvement, whereas fencing is mainly in the forearm and wrist. Ron, however, seemed to be quite good. Hermione had it pretty easy too, not making the same mistakes as Malfoy. Cho seemed, on the other hand, to be having some difficulty. '_I think she might be too used to knive fighting. Swords are much heavier_' Harry thought. Then, it struck him. He could talk to them, offering extra lessons.

"I would like an extra word with miss Chang and miss Granger, as well as mr Weasley. The rest of you may go."

They waited patiently on the side, talking with Remus while Harry got the rest of the swords and put the tables and chairs back in their original positions. The spectators had, as a whole left. Dumbledore had congratulated 'Professor Andrews' for a good lesson before leaving. Even Snape seemed to have thought that the lesson was worth attending. Finally, Harry was left with Remus, Cho, Hermione and Ron.

"First of all, congratulations on surviving your first lesson." They chuckled, although Hermione and Cho seemed a bit out of breath, and Rons forehead glistened with sweat. "Now, miss Granger, you prooved to be quite good, probably thanks to your fencing lessons. And you, mister Weasley, seem to have quite a talent with swords." Ron beemed at these words. Being the sixth son, he was always looking for a way to shine. And while he knew both Bill and Charlie, the two older brothers, were able swordsmen, he might be able to shine in this way. "However, I think your knife training might proove to be a small handicap with swords miss Chang. However, I would like to propose additionnal lessons for the 3 of you." Remus coughed rather loudly into his hand. "4 of you."

Remus, Hermione and Ron all three seemed quite eager at this. Cho was rather hesitant, however.

"A problem, miss Chang ?" Harry asked.

"Erm …, I know this might seem quite premature …, but could I start with extra knife fighting lessons ?"

Harry gave this a little thought. "I don't see why not. However, to be able to fully benefit from the sword fighting classes, you will have to try to get a litte extra practice in when you can."

"Yes, professor."

"Is Sunday evening, from 7 till 9, okay with you ?" Nods all around. "Good. If you want, I can provide all of you with dulled swords, so that you can practice by yourselves. Come by my quarters tomorrow morning after breakfast." 

"Errr, sir, where are your quarters ?" Hermione asked.

Harry explained them the way, as well as telling them how to make their presence known. The students left, leaving Harry with Remus. Harry lifted the truck onto his shoulder, seemingly not bothered by the weight of 25 swords in there.

"Will you tell them tomorrow or Sunday ?" Remus asked.

"I would like to do it tomorrow, but we'll have to see how it goes. Did you enjoy your first lesson ?"

"Yes, Ha … sorry, James. You did very well."

"Thanks."

"Truth be told, my arms are a bit sore. I'll need those extra lessons, professor." Remus said with a grin. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Hey, do you think that Sirius would like lessons too ?"

"I think he already had some during his Auror training. He was a good swordman, if memory serves me well. He could maybe help you with your extra lessons, while you help Cho."

"Good idea, that." Harry agreed. "He's staying in your room, isn't he ?"

"Yes. I'll talk to him later. He might want to pass to talk about it with you.

"Okay. Good night, Remus."

"Good night, James."

With that, they both left the great hall and went their way to their respective chambers.

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Saturday morning came. Ron and Hermione got up quite early. They told Ginny what professor Andrews had told them the day before, since she had already gone to bed when they came back the night before. Ginny had enjoyed the lessons, but not enough to have extra private lessons. Ron wanted to have them, and was eager to see the professor again. Hermione was exited, and talked of finding a book on sword fighting in the library. Ron just rolled his eyes when she said this, but said nothing himself.

The three of them went to breakfast, and caught Cho just as she was about to enter the great hall. After a brief hello, they went each to their respective tables and started to eat. The tables started to fill up gradually as time went on. Harry wasn't there yet. Only half the teachers were there, along with Dumbledore.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny were halfway through their meal when Harry and Remus entered the hall, chatting away, with a big black dog known as Snuffles beside them. Harry and Remus were happily chatting away, and their entrance was, for the most part, unnoticed. However, all those who had been to Harrys' lesson the day before noticed, and started whispering amongst themselves.

Harry and Remus reached the head table. Harry vaulted over and took his place between Remus and Snape. Snape greeted him with a curt nod of the head, and Dumbledore gave him a warm smile. Hagrid, who was seated on the opposite side of the table, gave Harry a small wave before starting to eat. He started to heap sausages, fried tomatos, mushrooms, bacon, eggs and toast on his plate before he started to eat it. In all, he ate more than Remus and Snape put together.

Breakfast was over. Harry and Remus stood up to leave, and saw Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Cho do likewise. The 6 left the great hall, making small talk. Remus asked how their day had been yesterday before armed combat lessons. Unfortunately for them, they had started with double potions, still with the Slytherins. This had, of course, resulted in quite a few points being removed from Gryffindor house, and Neville melting his first cauldron of the year.

Upon arriving at the painting leading to Harrys' chambers, Harry placed a hand on the enchanted stone, which glowed briefly with a golden light before turning green and fading. The painting moved to the side, and all entered.

The 4 students were slightly awed with Harrys quarters. He had filled the shelves with a few … interesting items, as well as books. Hermione walked over and started to look at the titles, seeming a bit shocked when she saw some of the titles ('Less-then-friendly curses', 'Duelling curses', '1001 ways to cause pain'). Ron went and looked at some of the objetcs, not recognizing any of them. This was normal, since Harry had made them. Remus made his was to a small cupboard which Harry had added, and took out a bottle of chilled pumpkin juice and a goblet. Ginny and Cho were waiting nervously near the entrance. The painting closed, and Sirius was able to change back to human form since everyone present knew who he was.

"Make yourselves comfortable. I'll just be a minute." Harry said, entering the small storeroom near the office. Harry had taken out the more important or necessary objects, such as clothes, weapons for personnal use and other useful objects. He had also taken some books, since he could still learn, as Godric had told him. He had placed his personnal belongings in his bedroom. The rest of his belongings were in his trunk, whick he had placed in the storeroom. Grabbing its handle, he dragged it into the commonroom. Cho was sitting down looking into the fire, fingering her necklace. She had taken to doing so when she had felt it become warm on platform 9 ¾ 2 days ago. Ginny was talking with Remus and Sirius, and Ron and Hermione were discussing what some objects could be used for.

They stopped what they were doing when Harry came back. He brought the trunk into the middle of the room and stood it up. Taking a bunch of keys out of his pocket, he opened on of the key holes. A handle magically appeared, and Harry opened the 'door', indicating for everyone to enter. They did so, and were amazed at what they saw.

It was a series of 4 rooms. There were weapons of all sorts on each wall. Some were menacing, some just ordinary-looking. Some had runes on them. Some seemed to irradiate a special aura. Harry stepped in behind them, leaving the door open.

The first room contained all the swords. The left wall had several normal looking swords, and the gang decided that was where they should choose from. They want over and started looking for one they liked.

"There's a spell to help you, if you want." Harry said from behind them. Harmione turned to look at him.

"What's the spell for ?"

"Just like wands choose their ideal owner, some weapons are just meant to be with a certain person. Of course, some weapons will never choose a owner. The spell helps you to find the weapon that was made for you, if it's here. You just have to point your wand towards where the weapons are and say the incantation '_Weaponus Idealus_' and concentrate on the type of weapon, in this case, swords."

"And how do we know which is the one we're destined for ?"

"You'll know. I can't explain it better than that, because it's different for each person and weapon."

Everyone moved away from the wall, and Hermione took out her wand. Pointing it at the swords, she said the words. A slight wind could be felt, and the light seemed to falter. Then, one of the swords started to shine. Hermione put her wand back in her pocket – making the room return to normal – before heading to and picking up the sword. It wasn't all that fancy. Quite light and of normal length, it sat comfortably in her hand. There were 3 runes, two placed on the swords hilt and one on the blade.

Each of the people present, except for Harry, did the same. And each time they were attracted to a different weapon in a different way. Rons sword was slightly longer and wider than a normal sword, and was also heavier. The hilt was covered in leather, and the metal had a slight green tinge to it. There were also the 3 same runes as on Hermiones sword. Ginnys had sword of normal length, but was almost as wide as Rons. There was only one rune on the hilt. Cho's sword was the longest, longer than Rons, but was thinner. The blade had a blue hue to it. There was 2 runes on the blade and 2 runes on the hilt. Sirius had a long black-bladed sword, with several silver runes on the hilt and blade. Finally, Remus had a long sword. The hilt was shaped like a wolves claw. There weren't any runes, however.

"The spell you used gave you the best choice of the weapons present. It's still possible that there is a better sword or better weapon type for you somewhere. Miss Chang, since you will be learning knife fighting early, would you like to find suitable knives ?"

"Yes please, professor."

"And no professor business here. You may call me James when not in lessons."

They followed James/Harry into the next room. One of the walls was covered in knives and short blades of all sorts. Some were single, some came in pairs. Cho performed the spell again, and was drawn to a pair of long daggers. The hilts ended in what looked like birds claws. The hanlde was in leather, and the blades had the same blueish shine as her sword. Several small runes were on the hilt and blade.

"The Eagles Claws" Harry whispered, slightly stunned.

"What ?" Cho asked, turning around to face Harry.

"That's what they're called : the Eagles Claws. They are very special. I'll teach you about them next lesson, tomorrow, as I will for your swords. Remus, there's one more thing for you, and I won't need a spell to find it." Remus gave Harry a quizzical look at Harry, who just chuckled. "Wait for me outside, I'll go get them" heading into another room as the rest of them exited Harrys' trunk and compared their swords.

Harry returned a minute later holding a pair of gauntlets. After closing his trunk and putting it away, he showed Remus the gauntlets. The forearms were made of a black metal, and had several runes along its length. The hand was solid leather with metal for the knuckles. The fingers were cut off, leaving the fingertips free.

"Whats so special about them ?" Ron asked.

"They're called 'the werewolves claws', and are very special." Harry put them on, and they adapted to fit his arms perfectly. "As you can see, they are enchanted to fit you perfectly. I'll explain the runes another time. The special part is this." Holding his arms to his sides, he gave a small flick of each wrist. Magically, 3 blades sprouted from the forearms, overlapping his hand by 30-odd centimeters. Everyone gasped. "The blades are enchanted to be extra sharp and strong. " With another flick of the wrists, the blades retracted, leaving no proof that there are blades. "I think you'll find them very useful. You can keep them on at all times. One of the runes is there to dull pain during werewolf transformations, and another one helps you to control youself in werewolf form." Remus was a bit shocked at this, but gratefully thanked Harry.

"Now, I trust each of you not to abuse the fact that I have given you a weapon. If I find out you have used it outside of your own practices or my lessons, I will seriously consider taking it back and refusing to continue lessons. Understood ?"

They all nodded in agreement.

"Good, now there's just one more thing to do. Remus, I believe it's time, don't you ?" Remus gave a small nod and a smile, whle the students were looking at him, nonplussed. "Cho, Ron, Hermione, Ginny …", removing his hood, "meet Harry Potter."


	7. Chapter 07 : The Beginning of the School...

Disclaimer : 

Wasn't mine,

Isn't mine,

Won't ever be mine,

But I'm still fine.

Summary :

Harry goes somewhere during the summer holidays after his forth year. He comes back a year later to teach D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts).

Authors Note : 

As is my custom, I would like to begin by thanking all those who took the time to review. It's really encouraging to see that your story is appreciated by others. Thanks to : **wolfmoon, BloodRedSword, Anya Dvorak (**Sorry for not updating sooner, but I gotta lot of schoolwork. I'll do my best, promise.**), Rachel A. Prongs (**Not quite, but not far**), Eclipze, nikkimouse, silverlime, (Anonymous), LittleEar BigEar's sis, shdurrani, Mike Potter 2002, angelangie, Lady Phoenix Gryffindor and Julie Jewelrannah.**

Just a passing remark : any requests will be taken into consideration. The storyline is, for the most part, well defined. But is someone wants something special, such as a ball, they can ask in a review and I'll consider adding it to the story, as long as it fits.

This chapter is about Harry's friends reaction to his abrupt appearance, Sundays combat lesson and Harry's first DADA lesson on Monday morning. The next few chapters will be a bit slower because the different events mentionned are close together, but the pace will pick up eventually.

*************************************************************************************

Their reactions were different from what Harry expected. Ginny gave a small gasp and rushed to hug Harry. Ron and Hermione just stood there, gaping at Harry. Cho gave Harry a wary look, fingering her necklace.

"What's wrong Cho ?" Harry asked, a bit of worry discernable in his usually steady voice.

"You can't be Harry. My necklace isn't reacting."

Harry hit his forehead. Taking out the necklace Cho had given him, he muttered "Finite Incantateum". Both Cho's and Harry's necklaces started to warm. Cho gave a big smile and rushed to hug Harry. Harry scooped her up in his arms, twirling her around, Cho laughing delightedly.

Ron and Hermione still hadn't moved during all this. They barely blinked, and the others were wondering if they were breathing. Ron eventually reacted. "Blimey Harry, you've changed."

"Dumbledore said the same thing." Harry replied with a grim, after putting Cho back on her feet and wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Harrrrryyy !!!" Hermione cried, finally coming back to her senses. She rushed forward and grabbing Harry in a hug, knocking most of his breath out of him and nearly knocking him over. Cho had just managed to avoid the rush.

"Hermione, I need to breath." Harry gasped out. Remus smiled, while Sirius was laughing out loud. Hermione blushed a bit and let go of Harry. Ron came over and grabbed, Harry's hand, started to shake it.

"Good to see you mate. Pity you had to shame yourself and become a teacher."

Harry gave a smile. "It's good to be back, although I don't think I'll make it. The _SHAME_ of being a teacher." His smile now rivaled that of a cheshire cat, as did Rons.

"Harry, how on earth did you become a teacher ? You haven't had your OWLs or NEWTs yet." Hermione exclaimed.

"I'll tell you all everything, although Remus and Sirius have already heard the story. But let's sit down. Do you want to hear it here, or shall we go for a walk ?"

"Here. If we go out, you'll have to hide your face." Cho said with a grin, standing next to Harry once again.

"As if that's a bad thing" Sirius muttered under his breath to Remus, as both of them left to let them catch up around the fire.

Harry told them everything, although they already knew most of it since they had kept regular contact.

"Harry," Cho asked, "how come you're different from when I saw you in my dreams ?"

"You dreamt about Harry ?" Ron asked. Hermione smacked him on the arm, and Ginny rolled her eyes.

"I dream hopped, Ron. I was able to control my appearance to a certain degree. Besides, I'm not _THAT_ different from how I was in your dreams, am I ?"

"A lot more muscle" Cho answered, with a grin.

"Oooh, is that a complaint ?" Harry grinned back. "I'll just have to let myself go and lose all these muscles and go back to being small and skinny."

"Harry Potter, don't you dare" Cho all but yelped, while Hermione, Ginny and Ron laughed.

They spent the rest of the morning chatting away. Hermione had done very well in her OWLs, getting 15 out of a possible 17. Ron hadn't done too badly himself, getting a more-than-respectable 12 out of 16 OWLs (AN : they don't have the same optionnal courses, remember). "Mum was dead chuffed at that," Ron had said. Hermione had spent half the holidays at the Burrow. Fred and George had started their joke shop, and it was doing really well.

"Hey, Harry, when do you think you'll show yourself to the rest of the world ?" Ron asked.

"I dunno. I was thinking about a couple of weeks, but it also depends on what actions Voldemort will take." Whilst they flinched, they didn't tell him not to mention the name. '_Progress indeed_' Harry thought to himself.

*************************************************************************************

"Checkmate" Ron exclaimed.

"Ugh. I'll still never be able to beat you at chess, Ron." Harry said. It was Sunday afternoon, and the gang was once again gathered in Harrys' private quarters. The girls were playing exploding snap, and all 3 had slightly singed eyebrows. Harry had challenged Ron to a game of wizards chess, but had still taken a beating. "I can do any spell, potion or charm you can name, and many you can't, and Ron still kicks my ass at chess. I'm frankly disgusted," Harry cheerfully said with a grin on his face.

"That's because you're still hopeless at it. Another game ?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Ack ! No thanks, my hide has had its daily beating today. Lets join the girls."

"Oy ! We're women over here. The better half of the human race." Hermione quipped back, before the cards in her hands exploded as Cho put down her last 2 cards. "No fair, I was distracted."

"That's called strategy," Cho said, as Hermione and Ginny mock-scowled at her. "She just got up unfazed and walked over to Harry, wrapping her arms around him before kissing him. Some whistleing could be heard from the entrance.

"Go Harry !" Sirius called, as he and Remus entered.

"Watch it. I might have to take my revenge for that," Harry said, conjuring up a leash and collar in his hand without taking his eyes of from Cho. Sirius put on a pained expression and flung his hand up in mock-terror, before running around the room emitting a high-pitched scream.

"What did you come up for ? You miss me already ?" Harry asked once Sirius had been immobilized, Ron and Hermione sitting on his back.

"I wanted to see how my favourite godson was going." Sirius said from the floor, having been immobilized by Ron and Hermione who were sitting on his legs and back respectively.

"I'm your only godson."

"So ?"

"Great. I got beaten at chess, and now my godfather watches my every move like a mother-hen," Harry said, grinning at his godfather, who had managed to get up. Ron and Hermione stood next to him, holding hands

"Hey, it's 5 o'clock. Dinner is in about 2 hours."

"And you were bored." Harry stated.

"So ?"

"Your comebacks are so witty, Sirius."

"Thank you. I wanted to know if anyone wanted to go for a walk or something."

"Sure," Harry said. "Anyone else ?"

Everyone agreed, and they were soon walking around the lake. Cho and Harry were holding hands, as were Ron and Hermione. Ginny was walking next to Remus, and Sirius was in a dogs form till they were away from prying eyes. To avoid running around with his hood up permanently, Harry had decided to disguise his features with a few spells. He was now blond, with pale blue eyes. His features were a bit sharper, and his cheekbones slightly higher, giving him a more aristocratic look. His scar was, of course, gone, as were his glasses (AN : I don't know if I mentionned it, but Harry had his sight magically corrected and wore non-correcting glasses). He still wore his cloak, and his warhammer was still on his back.

Harry and Cho weren't too worried about anyone seeing them. They were too far away from anyone else, and they had plenty of time to react if anyone got too close.Afetr a good 10 minute walk, they arrived at a small aclove stone beach, hidden from prying eyes. Harry cast a 'Dissimuli' charm, so that anyone looking wouldn't see them unless those hidden wanted them too.

"We should go for a swim one day, while the weather is still warm." Harry lazily suggested. The sun was still in the sky, and the day was still bright. Cho was sitting next to Harry, who had his arm around her waist and was leaning on his shoulder. Ron was in almost the same position next to Hermione, and Sirius, Remus and Ginny were grouped together, seated opposite the 2 couples.

"Sure. The weather should stay warm another month or so. Unless you want to swim in the freezing water like Krum did." Ron said.

"True. We thought he was barmy then." Harry said.

"I personnally think he still is." Ron quipped, gatting a friendly swat on the arm from Hermione.

"Remember, Ron. If Krum hadn't started flirting with me, you might never had found the guts to ask me." Hermione said, putting her arm around her boyfriend.

"I'll remember to write him a 'thank you' note."

"I'll help you," Harry added, grinning. "So, are you all ready for your extra lessons tonight ?"

"Ugh. Thanks for reminding us." Ron said, rolling his eyes. "Hermione might be a bookworm ("Hey, I _AM_ here"), but you better not become a fanatical teacher."

"You wish." Harry answered, grinning. "Besides, I am first and foremost your friend before I am a teacher. Just don't tell anyone else that."

"You're not my teacher" Sirius said.

"Quiet. Stop finding flaws in my answers. It destroys my reputation."

"What reputation ?"

"I dunno. But whatever it is, it destroys it," Harry told Sirius.

Cho was starting to fall asleep by the time they started to go back, and had to lean upon Harry at first. Harry had asked if she wanted to be carried, but Cho said she would fall asleep if she was carried, and settled for leaning upon Harry while she walked. They arrived at the castle slightly before seven. Harry and Cho had to let go of each other, and Harry put his hood up and charmed it in place, removing his disguise.

Dinner was an uneventful gathering, thanks goodness. It seemed that the absence of the Weasley twins and any heir of theirs calmed down things a great deal, although the year is still young. Harry still sat at the head table, chatting with any teacher close enough to provide intelligent conversation. He chatted for a bit with Mcgonogal and Sprout, before talking about brooms with Hooch. Hagrid was tending to some new bizarre and probably deadly creature, and was absent for the entirety of the meal.

After the meal, Harry was heading up to his chambers alone. He had enjoyed the meal, but had decided to let the others speak to their classmates. It would be suspicious if they started hanging around with a teacher. He wanted to bring prepare tonights combat lesson and tomorrows DADA lessons. Harry was blessed with his schedule. Dumbledore was lucky to have 2 DADA teachers, because one could give lessons while the other patrolled. And 2 people with such knowledge in the dark arts and how to fight them was useful.

But Harry knew that it was necessary. Without it, the next attack by Voldemort or any death eater could be fatal to a lot of people. That's why he wanted to teach the students the most possible, so that they could do their best in the upcoming war.

Upon arrival, he opened the door and entered his chambers. With a wave of his hand, he moved the furniture to leave a bit more room for tonights lesson, and put his warhammer next to the fireplace. He then entered his office and took the books he would need for tomorrow and started to read. Tomorrow he had fifth years, Gryffindors and Slytherin the morning, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff the afternoon. His schedule left his quite a lot of free time, and he intended to put that time to good use, patrolling the school and improoving the magical and non-magical defences. He had reviewed the first six chapters of his book ('Fire and Ice curses for the temperamental') when his door opened. Sirius (in a dogs form), Remus, Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Cho entered, all (except Ginny) carrying the weapons Harry had given them the day before.

"Hiya Harry." Ginny piped. "What are you reading ?"

Harry looked up and showed her the cover. "I was brushing up for tomorrows lesson."

"Good. I'm glad we don't have to do the unforgivables anymore. Urgh. They were horrible."

"Yeah. I remember when we had them. Ron was terrified when Moody cast them on spiders," Hermione said.

"That's not fair. You know how much I hate spiders." Ron shuddered at the thought.

"Haven't Fred and George thought of selling it in their shop yet ? The transforming teddy bear." Harry asked while putting his book down.

"No, thanks goodness. Although I should mention it. They'd love to be reminded, and I'm sure they would sell. Unfortunately." Another shudder.

"Right. Down to business. I suppose you're here for your additionnal lessons." Nods from everyone. "But first, I'll explain you weapons too you. Cho, Ron and Hermione, you swords have the same runes, so I'll start with you. " They brought out their swords and held them out. "Okay. The rune on the blade is a strengthening rune, make the blade harder to break. Some mouvements are done only to that end, so it's quite useful. On the hilt are a homing rune and a binding rune. Before activating them, I need you to give your sword each a name."

They looked at him like he had asked them to kiss Malfoy. All three had their mouths open and were openly gaping at him. Without overlooking the fact that Harry was sounding very teacher-like in his was of lecturing.

"What do you mean, name it ?" Remus asked.

"Just that. The runes need to have a like between the person and the owner of the weapon. The name provides the link. It doesn't really matter what the name is, since you won't have to say it or anything, but it's still necessary."

"Okay. "Ron started. "I'll call mine … Orcblade. It's green, so …"

"It's okay, Ron. You don't have to justify yourself," Harry said with a grin. "What about you, Hermione ?"

"Erm, I don't know really. Laura."

This time, Harry and Ron looked at Hermione strangely. "Laura ?"

Hermione blushed, muttering "My middle name".

"Cho. What about you ?"

"Oooh. I'm thinking of calling it 'Harry James Potter'." Harry stared open-mouthed at Cho, while the others cracked up and started laughing out loud. Ron even had tears in his eyes. "Only kidding. I'm calling it Rowena."

"Okay." Harry had managed to get himself under control. "Once you've chosen your name, you hold the sword in your hand and say 'myarmum', followed by the name you've given your weapon."

"Myarmum Laura."

"Myarmum Orcslayer."

"Myarmum Rowena."

The weapons glowed briefly, before returning to normal.

"Good. Ron, pass me your sword." Ron hesitated, but handed nonetheless his sword to Harry, who proceded to throw it across the room. "Now, call it back."

"Eh ? What did you do that for ?" Ron asked.

"Vision the sword in your hand."

Ron raised an eyebrow at Harry, but did so. The sword flew from where it had landed to Rons outstretched hand.

"Woah !" Ron exclaimed, a bit surprised.

"That's the effect of the homing rune. The binding rune means that the sword cannot be used against you or by someone who's your enemy."

"Brilliant Harry. Thanks for this." Ron said, putting the sword back in its sheath.

"Thanks a lot Harry" Hermione seconded, also putting her sword away.

"Cho, you have one more rune on your sword, on its blade." Cho looked at the blade, and nodded. "Good. Hold the sword and say 'Glacialis'."

"Glacialis." The sword was immediately surrounded in a blue light, and started to radiate cold.

"It causes extra damage. But it you keep it in contact with someone for long enough, they'll go unconscious."

"And, to turn it off ?" Cho asked, still enthralled by the weapon she was holding.

"Cancelius."

She uttered the counter-spell and the blade returned to normal.

"Okay. Ginny, there's only the binding rune on your sword, so you'll have to repeat the same process." Ginny obliged, calling her sword 'Morgana'. "Right. Remus, I'm afraid that there aren't any runes on your blade. However, I placed a few enchantments on yours when I made it, basically strengthening enchantments and the like. As for the gauntlets, other than the runes relating to your condition, they're just damage enhancing and protection runes. There's also a healing rune, so that you heal faster. I would recomend you wear them at all times, but I'm not putting you under obligation to do so."

"Okay, Harry," Remus said, putting the gauntlets on. They adapted themselves to the right size.

"To make the claws appear, you have to will them to appear." As soon as the words left Harrys mouth, the blades sprouted from Remus' arms. "Same applies to retract them. They are very sharp and strong, so you shouldn't worry about breaking them. But come to see me if ever that happens."

"Thank you Harry," Remus said calmly, looking at the weapons on his arms, very impressed and, it you looked well enough, relieved.

'_Probably due to the healing and pain controling runes on it_' Harry thought.

"Sirius, you're left." Sirius gave a mock salute. "At ease. Now, your sword is what could be called a protecting blade. The first rune is a shield invoking spell. You have to immobile to cast it, but it is very strong thanks to the strengthening rune next to it. You have to imagine the shield around you to invoke it, and imagine it's no longer there to remove it. The next three runes are storage runes. You can store a spell in it by placing your wand on the rune and casting the spell. You have to end the spell with a keyword that activates the spell."

"And you built this sword ?" Sirius said.

"Yep. One of the better weapons, I must admit. I had some free time, and wanted to apply what I had learned."

"Harry, its brilliant" Sirius said. "I'm very proud of you, as I'm sure your parents would be."

"Thanks Sirius. It means a lot coming from you," Harry said, with a smile on his face. "Now, onto the actual lessons. We'll start with a warm up." They placed themselves in the room so as not to get in each others way. Ginny went to sit down next to the fire, and started to read the book Harry had been looking through before they had arrived.

Noticing this, Harry called out, "You can practice them if you want to Ginny. Just be careful as to where you're aiming."

"Okay, thanks."

After a half an hour workout, they were ready. They went quickly through the basics Harry had shown them 2 days ago, and Harry then paired them up to practice. Remus and Sirius were against each other, and Ron was with Hermione. Cho went with Harry, who drilled her for the next 15 minutes.

"Okay. Sirius, do you think you can handle them for the next hour. I'm gonna start Cho's knife fighting."

"Not even married and already fighting. This is promising." Sirius said with a big grin plastered on his face.

"Ugh. You're hopeless. What am I going to do with you ?" Harry said, throwing up his arms in mock exasperation. The smile on his lips betrayed his real feelings, however. Sirius moved to the front, and started doing slightly more advanced moves and putting the basic mouvements into sequences, while Remus, Ron and Hermione followed. Ginny was halfway through the first chapter, practicing the basic fire casting spells, while Harry brought Cho to an unused area of the room.

"Okay. I'll explain the runes on your daggers another time. For now, I would like to test your level."

"I would like to kiss you passionately, but we can't all have what we want," Cho answered back.

Harry gaped a bit, while Cho had a cheeky smile on her lips. Snickers could be heard from the others, causing Harry to blush. "Erm, okay. Right, I'll go get my knives then. Right." He managed to stammer before heading into his storeroom. When he came out, he was holding the fighting knives Sirius and Remus had sent him for his birthday last year, but his ears still had a pink tinge to them.

"Ready ?"

"Yup. Let's do this." Cho answered.

They started. Cho was a good fighter, quick and precise. She attacked and paried fluidly, and Harry surprised himself by actually having fun. The knives flew, and the noise of a blade hitting another rang through the room. It was an enthralling sight. Sirius stopped giving his lesson just to watch, and the others followed suit, impressed by the speed they were going at.

Harry suddenly had an idea. Cho thrust her knife forward, aiming for the heart. Harry sidestepped the blow, capturing her arm between his arm and body. He followed by bringing his other arm up and trapping her other arm. She struggled slightly before realizing that she was trapped, he face just scant inches from his.

"Caught you," Harry whispered.

Cho gave a small smile. "Yes you did." She moved her head up while Harry lowered his. Their lips were almost touching when Sirius decided to act. Conjuring up a wizard camera, he started to take photos while they kissed.

"Okay, Harry lower your head a little bit, so that the light catches better," he called, moving closer while he continued taking photos. Harry and Cho jumped, while Sirius grinned at them.

"Padfoot, you are going to pay for that."

"Not me, though they will sell like hotcakes when I get them developped," he said, grinning like a manaic.

"Collin Creevy would pay double," Ron added.

"Ugh. What did I do to deserve this ?" Harry called out.

Cho put her hand on his shoulder, and looked up. "We did this." And kissed him again. Harry was surprised, but that was quickly disipated, as he was once again captured by her lips, her touch, her scent, …, her all. When they drew apart, he was smiling.

"Thanks for reminding me."

"You're welcome."

"Truly a kodac moment" Hermione said.

"What ?" Ron, Sirius and Remus asked. Harry and Cho weren't paying attention.

"Nothing, it's a muggle thing," Hermione said.

"Don't tell dad that," Ron quipped. Leaning in, he was about to follow Harrys lead when he heard the clicking of the camera.

"Good Ron. Lean more, good." Sirius had moved to be just next to them, and was taking close-up snapshots of them.

"Sirius !" Ron exclaimed. Sirius started running, but didn't have much space.

"Moony, catch !" Sirius called once he was cornered by Ron. Ron followed the camera.

"Ginny !" Remus called, lobbing the camera to Ginny. She jumped to catch it. The three continued to pass it between them, while Cho, Hermione and Harry were laughing at Rons antics.

"Hey Ron, let it be. You'll need some souvenir photos," Harry called, once Ron hwas too tired to continue running.

"Yeah, I guess," he managed to pant.

"Okay, I think that's enough for today. Anyone want to use my shower ?"

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Authors Notes **:**

Well, that wraps up this chapter. One last thanks to all my reviewers.

The next few chapters may take a little time to come out due to my workload. Teachers have been giving a lot of work (least year of college), so please be patient.

Last remark ; the next chapters are more plot than action, since they talk about his first lessons. So there won't be many events in between chapters.

That's all for now. Bye.


	8. Chapter 08 : DADA and Dueling lessons

Disclaimer : 

J.K. Rowling

Owns all, save the plot,

Which actually makes,

Quite a lot.

(Pathetic, but I'm low of cafeine at the moment, bare with me ;) ).

Summary :

Harry goes somewhere during the summer holidays after his forth year. He comes back a year later to teach D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts).

Authors Note : 

As is customary, I would like to begin by thanking all those who took the time to review. It's really encouraging to see that your story is appreciated by others. Thanks to : **shdurrani, Phoenix353, Wolfmoon, Rach A. Prongsn angelangie, BloodRedSword, androme and toastedpaco.** It's really encouraging to see that what you do is appreciated by others, and is a big motivationnal factor.

To everyone : enjoy !!!

*************************************************************************************

Harry had enjoyed yesterday. After the combat lessons, his friends had stayed to talk a bit, and it was quite late when they had gone back. Harry had accompanied Cho back to the Ravenclaw common room, no one believing it was to be sure points weren't taken off for being out after curfew.

He was presently sitting at the head table, with his hood up, charmed to stay put. Very few students were up at the moment, and the teachers weren't numerous either. Harry was just pushing his food around his plate at the moment. Today would be his first DADA lesson, and he was nervous, more so than before his first quidditch match. Remus and Sirius had reassured him yestereve, and their assurance had helped, only to come back as bad as ever.

The students had started to arrive, slowly but surely. It was 8 o' clock, and the first lesson of the day was at 8:50. Harry had a double serving of Gryffindor and Slytherin fifth years, Ginnys class. She had been reading his book of curses last night, so she was forewarned of what they were going to see. As his thoughts were wondering, he didn't notice Remus who had come and was seated next to him.

"Morning James."

Harry jumped, causing the sausage that was on his plate to fly through the air and land neatly on professor Sinistra's plate. However, she was busy talking to professor Vector, and didn't notice she had gained some food.

"Good morning Remus. Don't scare me like that."

"How do you want me to scare you then ?" Remus answered back with a grin. "What were you thinking of ?"

"I was thinking of todays lessons."

"Still nervous ?" Harry nodded. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll do fine. Are you going to be hooded or not ?"

"Errr, good question. No, I think I'll put on the same disguise as I did yesterday and let my hood down."

"Good man. Let them see the fear on your face."

"Remus, you're not helping," Harry groaned.

"James, take a deep breath, and think. Think of your past teachers, of what they did to make you enjoy lessons, and do the same. That's my advice."

Harry smiled. "Thanks Remus, although becoming a werewolf is not on my 'to do' list. Congratulations, by the way."

"Congratulations. What for ?" Remus asked, puzzled by Harrys remark.

"For officially breaking the curse of the DADA position. I think Albus should announce it today."

"I may just do that," said a voice just behind them. Harry jumped again, sending another sausage flying away to an unknown destination. He and Remus turned and saw Dumbledores smiling face, his eye twinkling like always. "It does merrit some sort of celebration." He quipped, before taking his seat and starting to eat.

Harry somehow managed to finish what was on his plate and set off to his classroom. Upon arriving, he entered and closed the door behind him. After checking, both magically and non-magically, that the room was indeed empty, he lowered his hood and performed a disguise charm on himself, taking the same blond-haired blue-eyed look he had taken yesterday.

Only 10 minutes left before lessons started. Some students could be heard behind the door, the more motivated. Harry took out a piece of parchment and put it on his desk. On it was a list of subjects that had to be seen during the lesson. A brief overview of fire spells and a few examples.

Five minutes before the bell rang, Harry opened the door, allowing the students already present to enter. Most of the Gryffindors were already present, and Ginny was among them. About half the Slytherin were also there. Harry briefly wondered why Dumbledore continued to put the 2 houses in lessons together, but reasoned that having lessons together might lower the animosity between the two houses.

The bell rang, signaling the start of lessons. A few last-minute students entered and took their seats, before Harry closed the door and took his place next to his desk. After performing the customary roll-call, Harry started his lesson.

"Good morning all. My name is professor Andrews, and I'll be your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. I know I'm young, but I have a lot of experience dealing with the dark arts. Last year, you studied the Unforgivables (a few students shuddered) along with basic dueling and some curses and counter-curses. This year, we will start by dealing with another category of spells : fire spells. These spells are often used by dark wizards and their followers. Can anyone suggest why ?"

A few hands were raised, and Harry chose Ginny. "Because they are hard to trace."

"Yes, that's one reason. Can anyone else see another reason ?"

"Some more hands went up, and Harry chose a Slytherin student this time : "Because they can kill more people at the same time."

"Ah, an interesting point. Anything else ?" No more hands went up. "Anyone ? Well, other reasons are that it requires less power to perform, is less draining, and causes a lot of pain. Lets just take the killing curse. It requires a lot of power, has to be cast with precision, and kills with no or little pain. But to burn to death is a painful death indeed." Harry continued his lessons, while the students wrote everything down, giving generalities concerning fire spells, more reasons for their use, and the like. He also showed then a simple fire spell and had them practice. At the end of the lesson, Harry gave them homework. "I want you to research 3 different fire-based spells, 6 inches on each spell, to be handed in two weeks." A few groans made themselves heard, but nothing more than the usual. The lesson had gone well, and no incidents had happened. No points had had to be removed, which was a good sign in itself. Ginny gave Harry a reassuring smile before leaving, chatting with her friends.

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At lunch, Harry caught up with Remus. Sirius was lying down in dogs form at Remus' feet, eating whatever Harry or Rumus would pass him.

"How was your morning ?"

"Fine, Harry. I had first years. They were most impressed by the werewolf that I am."

"Please don't tell me you scared them senseless."

"No, they're still mentally sane. For now. We just had a brief review of what we would see during the year. How about you ?"

"I think it went well. They were calm and no disruptions, that must count for something. And I think they were too busy to try anything against each other."

"Well, I must say, the teachers have been able to reduce house rivalry somewhat during the past year. Except for Severus."

"Ooooh, isn't that a surprise." Harry said sarcastically. Severus Snape was the potions master, head of the Slytherin house, and very biased where his students were concerned. He also had an open animosity where students from Gryffindor were concerned. Harry seemed to take the brunt of this, often having points removed for no apparent reason. "And do you have lessons this afternoon ?"

"Nope. I have this afternoon free. You ?"

"Fifth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuff."

"And you'ld much prefer seventh years, wouldn't you ? Remus said with a grin.

"You're spending too much time with Sirius, he's starting to rub off on you."

"Oooh, the shame. You're good at avoiding questions, you know."

"I do my best," Harry grinned. "By the way, when will the full moon be ?"

"I've still got a week left. Why, would you like to accompany me ?"

"I might just do that."

"You never told us that you had become an animagus …"

Harry gave a small shrug and continued eating. "You didn't ask."

"And what's your animal form ?"

"You'll see …"

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The rest of the say passed without a hitch. After lessons, He returned back to his quarters to see Hermione and Ron in front of the painting.

"Ah, students."

They turned around. "Hello Hamumph", the rest of the word cut off be Harrys hand on Rons mouth.

"Don't reveal my identity." Ron gave an apologetic lookas Harry removed his hand.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry. No damage done." Harry placed his hand on the stone which glowed gold then green before the painting moved aside to let the threesome enter. "You want something to drink ?"

Hermione politely shook her head, while Ron asnwered "I wouldn't mind a chilled butterbeer, if you have any."

Harry walked over to one of the cupboards and removed 2 bottles of butterbeer. Muttering an incantation, they both chilled and were covered in condensation. Opening them, he gave one to Ron and took a sip from the other.

"So how was your day Harry ?" Hermione asked. Harry indicated the chairs near the fire, and they all sat down, Ron next to Hermione and Harry all by himself.

"It went well actually. I was a nervous wreck before though."

"And are you ready for tomorrow ?"

"Sixth years tomorrow. Goody, goody." Harry said, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, I'm ready. I might be able to get a good laugh from this and all, what with teaching Draco." Harry gave an evil grin, mirrored by Ron. Hermione, ever the voice of reason, frowned.

"Harry, being a teacher does not give you the excuse to take points off for no reason."

"Tell that to Snape," Ron answered back. Sensing an argument brewing, Harry quickly intervened.

"I won't take points off for no reason, but I won't hold back from removing them." Nodding in satisfaction, Hermione opened a book and started to read, while Ron and Harry played wizards chess, crushing Harry in both games they played. It was time for dinner, and Harry insisted they leave his alone afterwards so he could prepare for tomorrows lessons, although both Ron and Hermione thought he might just recieve the visit from a certain Ravenclaw …

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Quarter to nine in the morning found Harry in his classroom once again, listening to the exited babble of students outside his door, his warhammer leaning against the desk. He had prepared a list of creatures that would have to be seen during the year. He had considered to start with elementals. Whilst not really dark creatures, they can be manipulated to such ends.

Upon hearing the bell indication the start of lessons, Harry performed a small charm to open the door, allowing the students to enter and take their seats. Harmione and Ron took front row seats, and gave Harry a reassuring wink. Once all the seats were all filled, Harry cast a small glance over all present. He knew all the faces, if not the names. Draco was sitting in the middle of a row, sidekicks Crabbe and Goyle to one side of him while Pansy Parkinson was seated on his other side, acting girly, in a pug-faced kind of way. Harry supposed that they were going out together. Ahhh, young love. '_Yeah, as if …_'

Breaking out of his reverie, Harry took the roll-call and decided to open todays lesson as he had done yesterday. "Good morning all. I'm professor Andrews, and I will be your DADA teacher for this year. Do any of you have any questions ?"

Draco raised his hand, and questionned before being answered "Are you any good ?" he said with his drawl. This brought several snickers from the Slytherins, and quite a few scowls from the Gryffindors. Harry just raised an eyebrow.

"I would have thought your own personnal demonstration on the train would suffice. The one where you ran away afterwards." Draco scowled and muttered something under his breath while the Gryffindors snickered. "Are there any serious questions ?" Seamus Finnigan raised his hand.

"Why are you replacing professor Lupin as DADA teacher ?"

"Professor Dumbledore rightfully thought that having 2 people well versed in fighting the dark arts is always a plus. Especially now." Harry gave a quick look at everyone present. Some of the Gryffindor looked slightly scared or grim, and several Slytherin had small smirks on their faces. Draco, however, had a small frown.

"But sir, despite all that has been said, we've seen no real proof of You-Know-Whos return."

"To that, I'll answer this : I, as well as others, believe that Voldemort (everyone flinched) has indeed returned, and is just making preparations while he slowly returns to full power. Now, even if he hasn't returned, there are still some of his loyal followers out and about. They made that clear during the quidditch world cup, what's to stop them starting again. And third, dark creatures will always be a possible menace. That's why these lessons are important. Anything else ?" Giving a look around the class, the only change he noticed was that Dracos face had a deeper scowl, and a hint of … dispair ? '_Odd, I'll have to look into this_' Harry thought. "Now, since there are 2 teachers for one lesson, I have free time, and am willing to help anyone out of classes if they so desire, even in other lessons. Although it's always better to ask the teacher concerned."

"Now, this year, we will be seeing the more powerful creatures than can be used by the powers of darkness. We will be starting the year with elementals, and will also talking about vampires and windigos, amongst others. Now, who knows what an elemental is ?" Everyone turned to Hermione, who's hand had shot up before the question was finished. "Miss Granger ?"

"An elemental is a spirit representing an element, such as fire, water, earth or air."

"Correct. 2 points to Gryffindor. Now, each elemental has different properties, depending on the element. They have to be invoked during a ritual, although regular calling of a certain elemntal forms some sort of bond. There are 5 levels of elemental, depending on the amount of power and free will you wish to give the elemental." Harry continued like this during another hour, while the students took notes on the creatures, any special abilities, and so on.

"Now, does anyone have an idea on how to actually beat an elemental ? That is the aim of this lesson, after all." Several hands were raised, and Harry decided to ask one of the Slytherins. "Yes, miss Blaise ." (AN : I have never read that Zabini Blaise is a girl or a boy, so I have decided to make it a girl.)

"I suppose you would have to use a spell that used the element contrary to the element you want to attack."

"Correct. 2 points to Slytherin. So, for a water elemental, your best bet would be a fireball of some sort. A simple water conjuring spell would suffice to destroy a weak fire elemental." The rest of the class was spent discussing different ways to destroy elementals, from direct attacks to breaking the object it was linked to. No other incidents happened, and the lesson finished smoothly.

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Harrys Tuesday had gone well so far. The sixth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had acted almost perfectly, and Harry was hoping that the rest of the year yould be the same.

It was now dinner time. In half an hour, Harry would be gining dueling lessons with Remus. He was starting to get used to teaching now, and, while he wasn't overflowing with confidence, he wasn't so nervous. After all, he had 2 days of lessons under his belt, and was starting to feel comfortable. It's not like he lacked training in this domain.

He had finished dinner, and had started to look over the list of students that had joined. They were much more numerous than his armed combat lessons. Quite a few Slytherins had joined, as had Gryffindors. Next in number were the Ravenclaw, followed by the Hufflepuffs. Harry wasn't surprised that Cho, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had all signed up. It was the kind of thing they would do. Plus, since they were known as close friends of the boy-who-lived, they were more likely to be seen as possible targets. Draco also, had signed up, along with his dumb-as-mud goons. Although Harry was still puzzled about Dracos frown when Voldemorts return had been mentionned.

Dinner was over, leaving Harry all of 15 minutes to prepare the room. Announcing this, the students started to leave.When the room was free, Harry moved the tables and chairs to the side once again, clearing a large space in the middle. Only he and Remus were present, so Harry started to ask Remus about Draco.

"Remus, has Draco been acting … different … at all the past year ?"

"He has, actually, now that you mention it. He seems more reserved, and doesn't, well, strut about as much. He mentions his father less, too, now that I think about it."

"No idea why ?"

"No, I never really noticed till you asked the question."

The school bell struck 7 o' clock, and Harry opened the doors. "Those who wish to just see take seats." Some teachers and students took seats, leaving a rather large group standing outside the doors. "The rest of you place youselves in the center of the hall." Harry let them enter, walking up to stand on the stage next to Remus. "Okay. The aim of these lessons is to provide you with a practical knowledge of curses and counter-curses in a dueling situation. You will be learning more curses, with counters, to do so. For the most part, they are not pleasant. If you have any problem with this, please sit down." No one moved. "Good. Now, this lesson will be to test your level. You will be split up into groups as of next lesson according to skill level. Names will be randomly chosen, and you will duel under professor Lupins and my supervision." Harry copied the names from the inital piece of parchment to another, and cast a spell to arrange the names into pairs.

The duels went relatively well. There were some darn good duelers, too. Cho and Hermione were among them, whereas Ron fell under the 'not bad' category. Draco did pretty good aswell, although Crabbe and Goyle were dismal, managing to fire only 2 curses in the 4 matches they had. Harry and Lupin decided to alternativly teach the stronger and weaker groups, to leave them a little bit of variation.

Finally, the lessons came to a close. Harrys friends were all in the stronger group. '_Probably because we've been through so much together_' Harry mused, thinking about their previous adventures. The students started to leave. Harry saw Cho, Hermione, Gionny and Ron waiting to talk to him, aswell as … Draco Malfoy. Ron was glaring daggers at this. Harry leaned over to whisper to Remus. "Take them to my quarters. I have to speak with Draco." Remus nodded, and went to join the group. He spoke a few words before they all left. Harry jumped down from the stage, putting the tables and chairs back in place with a wave of his wand. He didn't want to reveal to anyone yet about his ability to do wandless magic. Draco slowly walked over.

"Erm, professor. I wanted to talk to you." Harry nodded, waiting patiently for Draco to continue. "Professor, do you really believe in You-Know-Whos return ?"

Harry was slightly surprised at this question. "Yes, I do. And I don't intend on taking it lying down."

Draco gave a small nod. "My father, he's … he …"

"He's a death eater."

Draco nodded. "And he wants me to be one too."

If Harry was surprised before, he was shocked now. He hadn't expected Draco of all people to openly admit this fact. He also looked scared, now that Harry took a good look at his face. "And you don't want to be one ?"

Draco slowly shook his head. "No. And I've told him so. But he continually tells me that I have to, to be like him, to serve the same master. He … punishes me … when I refuse. But I don't want to. I don't want to be like him. I want to decide what's right for me. I want to decide what _I_ want to do !" Draco ranted, almost spitting out the last sentence.

Harry nodded. He seemed sincere. However, Harry couldn't be completely sure, even if his gut instinct was telling him that Draco was, indeed, telling the truth. Dracos head was bowed as he stood before Harry, so he quickly cast a truth speaking charm that would make sure.

"And what would you like me to do ?"

Draco looked up. "Help me professor. I don't know how, but don't let me become like my father. Please …"

Just these few words cast aside any doubts Harry could have had. Draco did really want to avoid becoming a death eater.

"Well, the first thing to do would be to tell professor Dumbledore. He would be able to help better than most. Snape, also, could help." Draco just nodded, listening to every word Harry was saying. "I could also give you some charm, or a portkey if ever things become too much when you're with him. You do realize, however, that you will have to change. What happened on the train shows that you have improved, but can still get better." Draco looked down at this, and nodded. "Okay. Head back to your common room, and I'll go to speak with Dumbledore." Draco turned around and left the Hall, leaving Harry to think …

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Arriving at the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledores office, Harry gave the password ("Sugar quills") and climbed the stairs. Upon arriving, he knocked on the door.

"Come in." Harry opened the door and entered. Snape was seated in a chair before the desk, and was visibly annoyed with being interrupted. Harry just ignored his look and spoke with Dumbledore.

"I have a matter to discuss, that interests both of you." Apuzzled look crossed Snapes face before it became a scowl again, while Dumbledore just raised an eyebrow.

"Lemon drop ?" he asked.

"No thank you. It concerns Draco Malfoy." Dumbledore raised his eyebrow again, while Snapes face reverted to a scowl. "He spoke to me after the dueling lesson. He explained that his father was trying to get him to join the death eaters, but that he didn't want to. I wanted you to know."

"And what do you want us to do ?" Snape disdainfully asked Harry, who was still disguised. (AN : Snape doesn't know Harrys true identity.)

"Help him, in any way we can. You, Severus, should realize the importance of helping them before they go over to the dark side rather than after." 

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We will think of something. You may return to your chambers." Harry nodded, and left Dumbledores office.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Harry arrived at his chambers Opening up, he stepped in. He was still thinking about what Draco had said, and didn't notice that everyone was looking at him. He removed his disguise and started to make his way to the staircase when a voice called …

"Harry ?"

Spinning around, he saw Sirius and Remus, as well as Cho, Ron, Hermione and Ginny giving him strange looks.

"What are you lot doing here ?"

"You told us to wait for us, remember ? You said you were going to talk with Draco." Remus answered.

"Oh yeah. I forgot. I was just thinking about him, actually …"

"What on earth possessed you to think about that slimy git ?" Ron asked. Hermione frowned, and was about to reprimand Ron on his choice of words when Harry spoke.

"He asked me if I believed in Voldemorts return. When I said yes, he told me his father was pushing him to become a death eater, but that he didn't want to."

"Harry, you can't tell me you believe that." Ron said.

"I cast a truth spell, Ron. He's telling the truth."

"That doesn't excuse the way he's been treating us, all the things he said." Ron was starting to get angry, and he usually lost it at some point and exploded.

"Ron, I'm not saying it _does _excuse anything he has said or done. Simple that if he wants to come back, pushing him away won't help."

Ron scowled in a very Snape-eske way. "Well I don't trust him."

"I don't expect you to. But at least try to treat him civily." Harry told him. Hermione held Rons hand in hers, and he turned and gave her a small smile. They started to lean forward, but stopped when they saw Sirius take a camera out of his robes., so they settled for leaning on each other.

They spent the rest of their time together talking and joking, Harry next to Cho and Ron sticking with Hermione. Hermione, Ron and Ginny didn't stay long, since Hermione insisted they had homework to do, and Sirius and Remus left to get a good nights sleep, leaving Harry alone with Cho.

"A romantic evening, just the 2 of us" Harry sighed contentedly.

"Don't get your hopes up too high. Hermiones right, we've got schoolwork to do. And I want to get as many NEWTS as I possibly can."

"Don't worry, you'll ace DADA" Harry said with a grin.

"Yay, that's one exam I don't have to worry about." Cho smiled back.

"Are you really worried about NEWTS, or is there something else ?"

"Well, there are several things. For one, there's us. What will it look like if someone finds out we're together. Not only is there the student/teacher thing, but there's also Voldemort."

"Cho …" Harry said, turning so that he was looking her directly in the eye, "I love you, and would do anything for you. And if Voldemort attacks, I won't let him or anyone else harm you." Cho eyes shined with inshed tears.

"Oh Harry, I love you too." She whispered, throwing her arms around Harry in a tender hug. They stayed together for a few minutes before Harry spoke again.

"You said 'several things'. What else is there ?"

"Well," Cho started, visibly calmer than before, "since it'm my last year, I won't be able to see you afterwards, when it's over."

Harry was startled. "Of course you will. We've still got 10 months of the year left. Plus, no matter what happens, we will always be able to make time for each other. You could even become a teacher here, your points certainly agree with me. But I won't let anything come between us."

"Thank you Harry. You don't know how it feels to hear you say that."

Hary slowly leaned forwards, his gest mirrored by Cho, as they kissed, a long, deep, loving kiss, by the light of a roaring fire …

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Authors Notes **:**


	9. Chapter 09 : Classes and Measures to be ...

Disclaimer : 

Another chapters here,

Naught but the plot is mine,

J.K. Rowling fans have no fear,

The rest is hers and still divine.

(I'm never going to last, these poems are getting worse and worse … ;) )

Summary :

Harry goes somewhere during the summer holidays after his forth year. He comes back a year later to teach D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts).

Authors Note : 

As is customary, I would like to begin by thanking all those who took the time to review. It's really encouraging to see that your story is appreciated by others. Thanks to :** shdurrani, Wolfmoon (**err, oops ? ;) Yes, it was a mistake, soon to be corrected.**), Rachel A. Prongs, Phoenix353, BloodredSword, (blank), silverlime, silentchild, illustrious sorrow, A-man, chochang913 (who thrice left a comment grins) (**Harry's trunk is based on Moody's trunk, but improoved to have actual rooms. Thanks for correcting the name of Ron's sword, I'll post it shortly. Draco might not necessarily be nice, he just doesn't want to be a death eater and dispises his father for trying to force him into becoming one. This leaves me some room to se if he will be nice or not. He had a hard upbringing, after all.**), skysong (**maybe …**), a fan, Gearge Weasley and Deritine (**More Snape. That should be possible. Let's see, dying a long and painful death that takes 2 chapters alone ? *Ducks overripe tomatoes, frying pans, and the entire 'Swinging Sixties' collection on 40 CD's* Kidding. ;) I'll see what I can do …**).**

To everyone : enjoy !!!

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Harry woke up from a magnificent dream. Of course, Cho was in it, but that's beside the point. He had been temped to dream hop, but decided to only do so when he was comfortable with his teaching, when he was in the rythme of things, and when Cho had settled down into a regular study habit.

They had stayed up about an hour more last night, talking about things Cho could do once she finished Hogwarts. Harry had suggested she become a teacher, and she didn't find it too bad an idea. She was best in charms and transfiguration, and they gave some serious thought about her becoming one of the teachers apprentices. But Harry wasn't worried, they still had many months before they had to come to a real choice.

Getting out of bed, he went through his morning exercice session, consisting of stretches to warm up and keep flexible, followed by a general workout. Harry could always use his training room in his trunk, but decided instead to have a small weapons training on the grounds. Putting his disguise on, he put on some light sports clothing, wrapped his cloak around his shoulders, and get his trusty warhammer, which he slung over his shoulder before heading down.

He reached the main doors before meeting someone. Dumbledore arrived at the same time, the twinkle in his eye ever present.

"Good morning James. Have a good night ?"

"Yes thanks, Albus. I slept like a baby. And yourself ? Did you ever stumble on the chamberpot-filled room again ?"

"I'm well. I never found the room again, but I still have hope. Lemon drop ?" he asked, holding out a tin Harry hadn't even seen him get from one of his pockets.

"No thanks. I'm just heading out for a small training session. See you at breakfast." Harry said, exiting the hall, meeting the fresh morning chill head on. Suppressing a shiver, Harry walked down next to the lake, where the giant squid was poking the odd tentacle through the waters surface, as if to test the air temperature. Harry removed his cloak and placed it under a tree overlooking the lake. Starting of with a warmup with the hammer, he progressively moved onto more complex and faster mouvements. He kept on like this, fighting an imaginary opponent, for about 45 minutes. His arms weren't aching, since he wasn't going out full strength, but he had still worked up a sweat. Once he had finished, he slowed down, finishing with a few small cooling-down mouvements and stretches. He stood there, warhammer in hand, breathing in the cool morning air, when he hear someone … _applauding_ ? He turned to see Cho there clapping her hands, standing next to Hermione and Ron who were holding hands.

"Gee, Harry, that was brilliant," Ron blurted out, always straight to the point, earning an elbow to his ribs as Hermione glared slightly at her boyfriend.

Cho gave a big sigh, batting her eyelashes at Harry. "My hero, my saviour." She said in a girly manner, before giving another sigh. Hermione tried to hold in her giggles, resulting in making her snort loudly.

Harry grinned at his friends. "How long have you been watching ?"

"Not long, Harry. Only about 15 minutes or so," Hermione answered.

"Anyone want to join me for a swim ?" Harry asked. They all shook their heads, so Harry went to his cloak. With a wave of his wand, he was now dressing in some snazzy dark blue swimming trunks, revealing his muscular frame in he early light. They hadn't had the opportunity to see how much Harry had changed, so they gasped when they saw how many muscles Harry had gained to his training. Hearing them, Harry turned and struck several poses, causing Cho and Hermione to giggle and Ron to laugh. Harry ran to the lake and did a few lengths before coming back. Drying himself with a quick spell, he got dressed, slung his weapon over his shoulder and they all made their way towards the great hall.

"So, what lessons do you have today ?" Harry asked. He would have liked to hold Cho's hand, but they couldn't run the risk of being seen by another student or teacher.

"We've got double history of magic, followed by double transfiguration, and history of magic after lunch." Hermione answered. "What about you, Cho ?"

"Erm, Arithmancy and history of magic the morning, followed by DADA the afternoon. How's the new teacher ?" she asked Hermione, giving her a small wink.

"Ooohh, he's awful, worse than Snape. Really mean he is," as Harry and Ron looked at her, shocked.

"I heard he's really ugly aswell. Is that true ?" Cho carried on. The boys were now beyond horrified.

"Oh yeah. And he smells really bad …" Hermione answered. Harry caught on at that moment, leaving Ron confused alone.

"I've got the seventh year Ravenclaws this afternoon. I've heard they're a rowdy lot of lazy troublemakers. Do you know anything about that, Cho ?" Harry asked, giving the girls a smile. Ron still looked shocked, but was now looking at Harry instead.

"No more than the sixth year Gryffindors" Hermione quipped.

"The girls will be utter hell, then." Harry said, before laughing out loud. Hermione and Cho soon joined him, leaving Ron with a very puzzled look on his face as they entered the great hall.

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Harrys morning went relatively well. Apparently, the seventh-year Sytherins and Gryffindors had the hardest time keeping themselves away from each other. Hary had had to take several points off each house, although he had refrained from giving detention. He treasured his free time too much, although he was determined not to shy back if ever the need arose.

As it was, the lesson was finished, and no one had died. He could be at least a little happy at this miracle. He had a double serving of them first thing in the morning, leaving the rest of the time before lunch blissfully free. Harry considered taking a nap, but decided to put his time to good use. He would prepare for the worst, and add to the already numerous wards placed at Hogwarts. He left his classroom and went to his office, which was just next door.

Upon entering, he remembered the many times he had already visited this room. Most memerable was when under Lockharts occupation, when the room was covered in fan mail and moving pictures of Gilderoy Lockhart himself. Next came Remus Lupin's memory. The room was interesting them, a few objects here and there and maybe the odd dark creature even, kept away in some dark space. Lastly, Alastor 'Mad eye' Moody. The false one, anyway. Turns out he was a death eater under polyjuice potion. But the room had been filled with many strange and wonderful dark detectors, such as a sneakoscope or a foe glass.

Harry hadn't entered here yet, stalling the moment. He needn't have worried. All objects had been removed, leaving only a desk and a few chairs, empty bookshelves and cupboards on 2 sides of the room. Harry hoped that he would find a quill, a pot of ink and some parchment in the desk. Seeting himself, he started to go through the desk. He found the quill and the ink, but no parchment yet.

Upon opening the last drawer, he found a piece. It was a large, slightly dog-eared piece of parchment that seemed somewhat familiar. Than, it clicked. It was the marauders map. Taking his wand, he tapped it lightly, whispering 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good' before ink lines started to draw the familiar sight. Once finished, he was presented with the map of Hogwarts. He was that Dumbledore was in his offine, that all the other teachers were busy giving their lessons, that Filch was on the opposite side of the castle with mrs Norris. And Peeves was zooming around in an empty corridor on the second floor. Tapping the map once again, whispering (despite being alone) 'mischief managed', he wiped the map blank. Folding it up, he put the map in his pocket.

He realized that there had been no parchment, so decided to work in his chambers. Exiting his office, he locked it and placed several wards on the door. Even though it was empty, he thought it best. '_Maybe Moodys CONSTANT VIGILANCE is starting to rub off on me_' Harry thought as he made his way to his chambers …

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Harry was in his office, busy writing different wards and runes he planned on placing to increase the security. He wanted to make sure the common rooms were secure as well as the great hall. Next would come classrooms and teachers quarters, although they could probably put up their own personnalized wards. Harry realized that he hadn't placed any wards around his chambers yet.

Half an hour later, he had filled a roll of parchment with different security spells, such as activable shields, barriers, wards not allowing different kinds of spells being cast, and the like. He had also thought of placing transportation runes in key locations around the school. He knew apparition wasn't possible. After all, Hermione had told them that often enough. But no measures had been taken for rune magic. It hadn't been common back in Godrics time, and it was all but extinct in this time. So he could place a network of runes that would permit him to jump from one rune to another, making faster transportation. Of course, thay would have to be password activated, just to be sure.

When he was finally finished, he noticed that it was almost lunch time. Leaving the 2 pieces of parchment on his desk, he got up. Making sure his disguise was in place, he exited his chambers. On his way down, he didn't come across anyone. Upon arriving, there were a couple of teachers and students, along with the headmaster already there. Taking a place, he leaned back and put his feet on the table. There wasn't any food yet, so it didn't bother anyone, although he thought he saw one student point in his direction.

More students started to fill in, as well as teachers, so Harry sat up and removed his feet before the food. A few seconds later, the serving dishes were full of delicious food. Helping himself to a generous serving of everything, he started eating, sparing the odd glance to the students every now and then. Ron and Hermione were talking with their fellow Gryffindors. Ron seemed to be talking about quidditch with Dean and Seamus, since he was making big swooping gestures between bites, and Hermione seemed to be talking about some lessons with some 7th years, judging from the look on her face. Cho was also talking with her classmates, although Harry thought he saw her steal the odd glance in his direction. Once he was finished, he struct up a conversation with Mcgonagall, talking about lessons and the like.

Once lunch was over, the students started to leave to head to their next lessons. Harry stood up and went over to where Dumbledore was seated.

"Albus ?"

Turning, the headmaster look carefully at Harry. "Yes James ?"

"I have been looking at several different wards and additionnal security measures that could be taken. Perhaps we could go over them tonight."

"Yes, that would be an excellent idea. Perhaps at half-eight ?"

"Yes, that sounds good. In your office ?"

"That would be the best place."

"See you later then." Harry concluded, standing straight and heading off to his classes. Arriving, he saw the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students lined up against the wall. Passing them, he opened the door and entered the students following and taking their seats. They weren't very nervous, since they had asked their younger housemates how he gave lessons.

Harry stood behind the desk, waiting for the students to take their seats. Once everyone was seated, he took the roll call. Once that formality was done, he got started. "Good morning class. As you probably know by now, I'm professor Andrews, and I'll be giving you this years DADA lessons. This is your seventh and final year, and you will be learning many advanced curses and counter-curses, as well as the most dangerous dark creatures. Now, what are the darkest curses that exist ?" Several hands shot up, and Harry chose a Hufflepuff boy.

"The unforgivables, sir. The killing curse, the Cruciatus curse and the Imperius curse."

"Correct, 2 points to Hufflepuff. Now, those curses were normally seen when you were in your forth year. They require a lot of power behind them, so we will be seeing some weaker but more common versions. Localised pain, partial control, and the like. They also have their equivalent in potions, so we will be seeing those later on. Now, who here was able to resist the Imperius curse, even if it was only partially or for a short time ?" Only 4 hands went up, Cho included. "Okay, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Not many people can throw it off partially, let alone completely. And they are often used in such a way that the person doesn't realize they are being controlled." A huffepuff girl raised her hand. "Yes ?"

"Erm, sir, what's the use of partial control spells ?"

"Good question. I'll show you with a practical example." Harry took out his wand. "Curse me."

"Erm, sir ?" she said, hesitantly.

"Attack me, with any localized curse you want. Except the unforgivables, of course. And I'll use a curse that controls your wrist."

She stood and took out her wand. She obviously didn't want to attack a teacher, especially on her first lesson. She pointed her wand at Harry, and weakly muttered "Expelliarmus". Behore she completed the incantation, Harry flicked his wand to the side and muttered a small spell, causing her wrist to pivot. The spell flew across the room, narrowly missing one or two students and finally hitting the wall.

"Thank you. You may be seated." She hurredly sat down again. "Now, I didn't bother to direct it against anyone. But the spell takes relatively little effort to cast. Imagine I had caused you to aim for an ally during a battle, it would be much more effective."

The lesson continued, with Harry casting the odd control spell now and again, making their wrists jerk out of line when they were writing, making them leave long ink streaks on their parchments. No one noticed he was doing it, and they thought it was their own doing. It was actually rather funny to see the odd student concentrating, then have their arm jerk, followed by some mild cursing.

Every so often, he would catch Cho looking at him intently, or giving him a quick glance when the others were copying something of interest down. Harry managed to curse her, but instead of making her arm jerk, he made her write 'I love you'. She gaped a bit when she saw what she had written. She looked up and saw Harry smiling. Blushing slightly, she continued to write as if nothing had happened. Harry hoped whe wouldn't lend her notes. Not soon, anyway.

The rest of the lesson went smoothly. Harry had the students try the wrist-control curse on each other. He had to do it one at a time, to avoid random spells being sent all over the place. Harry had placed a target on the wall, and points were awarded whenever the deviated spell hit the target. No-one had managed, although a few students had been close. They had recieved a few points, since they were the most successful.

The end-of-lesson bell rang. The students packed their books, and left the class, talking about the lesson they had just had. Harry was relieved that they had enjoyed it. At least, those he heard had been positive. He also heard a comment from a Hufflepuff, describing him as 'hot' before giggling. Cho looked his way, winking before she followed her friends back to their common room.

Harry was happy. He had already been teaching for three whole days. People liked his lessons, no one had died or even gotten injured, which was a feat in itself. He enjoyed being back, being able to talk with his friends once again. And yet, there was still a shadow, hanging over him : Voldemort. Made worse by the fact that Fudge wasn't acknowledging his return and therefore taking no measures to fight him. Harry knew that old Voldie would stop at nothing to reach him. And who knows what he was doing at the moment. Snape sometimes gave a bit of information, since Dumbledore had asked that he play spy once again. But Voldemort didn't trust him completely yet, and didn't give him much information. And the little he had brought back wasn't useful by itself. Still, it was better than nothing. They knew that Voldemort still hadn't completely recuperated, so that was something.

However, each time Snape came back, he said that the number of Death Eaters was increasing. Slowly, but surely. Harry wondered if Dumbledore had another spy among the newly recruited, but chose not to ask. If Dumbledore wanted him to know, he would tell him when the time was right.

Looking out the window, Harry saw that it was still bright outside. Deciding to leave such dark thoughts to another time, he pushed them to the back of his mind and left the classroom to regain his chambers, locking the door behind him.

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The rest of the day up till dinner went well. Harry had advanced DADA tomorrow. At the end of the fifth year, students could choose additionnal advanced courses, or start accelerated basic courses they wish they could have taken back in the third year. Of course, Ron and Hermione had taken advanced DADA, as had Cho the year before. Harry remembered Rons letter when they had had to choose, saying that Hermione wanted to take everything, and that Hermiones letter had ranting about the merits od advanced Arithmancy. He had spent the afternoon setting up what he would do for his lessons. He had a double serving of sixth years the first two periods of the morning, and seventh years after, leaving him with the whole afternoon free. One lesson out of two would be physical training, the other dueling, curses, and shields.

Dinner was an uneventful happening aswell. You could really tell that the Weasley twins had left. Not that people were sad or anything like that, simply that random food items didn't explode, or people didn't suddenly change colour during their meal. It was sad, in a way, Harry thought, that they hadn't managed to find their replacements. Although nothing prevented _him_ from doing anything. And Dobby was sure to help him with spiking the food, he thought with a smile on his face.

The meal ended, and the students left the great hall to go to their respective common rooms. Hermione was already studying like her life depended on it, and Ron, being her boyfriend, studied with her. Of course, he just said it was beacuse he wanted to get better grades, but everyone knew better. Cho was also studying. She was in her very last year, and NEWTS awaited her at the end. But her grades had been excellent up till now, no reason that that would suddenly change.

Dumbledore stood, and Harry followed suit. They left the great hall, heading towards Dumbledores office to discuss the additionnal security measures Harry wanted to place.

"Well James, are you holding out well ?"

"I'm fine thanks. It's going much better than I expected. I was nervous, but starting with the relatively tame fifth years, I gained confidence."

"It's good. I'm sure you make your lessons interesting."

They were still chatting away when they arrived at the stone gargoyle. Giving the password ("Ice Mice"), the statue moved aside, letting them enter. Once inside the office, Dumbledore took his place behind his desk and Harry took a seat.

"Now James. You said you wanted to add additionnal wards. Do you think they will be useful ?"

"Yes sir. I won't be adding additionnal wards to the whole castle, since the ancient wards are still strong, and will be for a long time. I was more thinking of localized wards, on classrooms, chambers, and common rooms."

"Will they interfere with the original wards ?"

"I'll have to do a little research, but normally not. The wards are implemented in the castle itself, and deeply rooted in the surrounding area. The wards I want to place could be considered as surface protection."

"You have a list ?" Harry removed the rolls of parchment from one of the numerous inside pockets his cloak had, and gave them to the headmaster. He unrolled them and started to scan. "What about the transportation runes ?"

"They are runes that would be placed at key locations, mainly classrooms, the staffs personnal quarters, house common rooms and the great hall. They would let me move from one place to another in a short amount of time."

"Wouldn't they let anyone use them ?"

"No. I can make them invisible, and password activated. The password could be disactivated in emergencies, such as requiring the moving of large amounts of people. Getting students back to their common rooms, for example.

"And what about the great hall ?" Dumbledore asked, still skimming through the wards Harry had written down.

"Protection shields placed around the tables, the aforementionned transportation runes. Maybe even the possibility of moving down into the kitchens if an attack occurs.

Dumbledore stayed silent, finishing looking through the scrolls. "Well, this seems satisfactory. You have certainly given this a lot of thought. However, I'm still not sure how much this would interfere with the original wards. Could you do some research to this effect, and come back when you have found what you need ?"

"That shouldn't be a problem Albus. I might have to go into the restricted section, though …"

"Which shouldn't be a problem, since you're a teacher. No need to use your invisibility cloak anymore," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Well, if there's nothing more, I'll head back to my quarters. Lessons, tomorrow. Oh, before I forget, is there anything new concerning Draco Malfoy ?"

"Yes, Snape has spoken with the lad. He is not ready to be a spy, so arrangements will be taken to remove him from his fathers care. However, this will be difficult, since Fudge still doesn't believe if Voldemorts return. However, if we can proove his return and the existance of several notorious Death Eaters in the ministry, then it should be possible."

"Okay. I would like to provide him with a portkey for when he returns home, so that if the pressure becomes too great, he could go to a place where he would be secure."

"Yes, that would be good. However, he will probably be staying in the castle during the holidays, and I see no reason why Lucius would come and force his to return home, so you still have a little time before this is necessary. However, we can never be too sure. Is that all ?"

"Yes, sir. Good night."

"Good night, Harry …" Dumbledore answered, as Harry left his office …

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Authors Notes : 

Here it is. I finally got another chapter up. I've been really busy, so I apologize. School professors have been really piling on the work, and I regularlly go to bed at 1 or 2 in the morning. I'll survive though. And I should be able to get a couple of chapters up when the winter holidays arrive.

This chapter was a bit slower than most. It's more of an explaination of what will be happening during the students school year, and what Harry plans to do. Action will come, so be patient … please? … Pretty please ? …. With a cherry on top … (starts grovelling at the readers feet, drops of drool making small puddles on the floor). Okay. That's it. I'll update as soon as I can.


	10. Chapter 10 : Advanced Classes and Wards ...

Disclaimer : 

Harry Potter and Co,

To JK Rowling belong,

Only the plots mine,

So move along, move along.

Summary :

Harry goes somewhere during the summer holidays after his forth year. He comes back a year later to teach D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts).

Authors Note : 

As is customary, I would like to begin by thanking all those who took the time to review. It's really encouraging to see that your story is appreciated by others. Thanks to :** Laterose, Fair Lady Ravenclaw, callas-and-ivy (**First of all, thank you for reviewing. When I said I wanted people to correct, I meant it. The amount of mistakes you found just goes to show how many mistakes I've made, although thankfully for me, most of them are typos. My possessive nouns have sucked for a long time, I've never gotten the hang of them really, so it's likely to be the mistake that comes up the most. I do not and will not think of you as a stuck up prick or a fanatic. Everyone has problems, and different ways of dealing with them. If you find it therapeutic to correct the mistakes I made, all the better. Whatever problems you have, I hope you find the strength to get through them, and that they'll get better soon. The corrected chapters will hopefull be updated soon, that is, as soon as I get around to doing it.**), ArhraCole, Rachel A. Prongs, Aradia Violet (**damn, plot glitch alert ! Okay ! Stay calm ! *thinks deeply * Okay, explaination : When Harrys' dad was at school, everyone knew that Voldemort was gaining power, and there were more people that were ready to fight him. As it is, only a few people accept that Voldemort is back. Godrics' Haven had to take this into account, and when Harrys' dad came of age, that is to say, reached the age of 15, Godrics Haven decided that is wasn't necessary for him to go. However, with Harry, Voldemorts forces are stronger than before, and are more numerous than the forces of the light. That is why it decided to get Harry to train him. Is that a satisfactory answer ?**), Phoenix353, Dertine, loki2525, WolfMoon (**hope you enjoy(ed) New Zealand. I've never been personnaly, but if the landscapes we see in the trilogy 'Lord Of The Rings' is anything to go by, it must be a beautiful place. Speaking of that, I would just like to add : THE ENTS ROCK !!!**), a fan and chochang913.**

To everyone : enjoy !!!

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Harry awoke bright and early on Thursday morning. Today would be a busy day. He would have advanced DADA with the sixth years, then then seventh years, during the course of the morning. The afternoon would be spend doing some more research on the schools wards, then probably the placing of some of the wards.

He had already started to do some research yestereve. None of his friends had come over since they had schoolwork to hand in, and Remus and Sirius had just popped by for a few minutes before leaving. Harry had gone through several books, and had already completed most of the research necessary. As it was, he could conclude that there was no risk for Harry to place additionnal wards. There were a few he couldn't place, but he had counted on not being able to place them all, so it didn't really matter.

Harry got dressed, put up his disguise, and went down to the great hall. It was about half-full, and almost all of the other teachers were there. He strode over to the head table and sat down. The food was already set, so he served himself a large serving of food and started to eat. Remus came down shortly after and sat down next to him.

"That's a large serving you've got there." He remarqued.

"I'm hungry." Was all that Harry said as he continued to eat. Once he was finished, he sat back, contented. He hadn't lacked food during his stay at Godrics' Haven, but it had lacked company other than memories of powerful witches and wizards. It was good to be able to interact with those you spoke to. "So, what have you got today ?"

"Third years, I believe. You ?"

"Advanced sixth and seventh years the morning, leaving me free to do my thing the afternoon."

"And what exactly does that entail ?"

"Setting up extra wards and the like. Better protection."

Pretty soon, it was time for lessons. Harry waited for the hall to be almost student free before getting up and heading towards his class. Upon arriving, he saw that it must be one of the more popular advanced courses. Out of the fifty-odd students that make up the sixth year, there were about 30 or so waiting in front of his classroom. He opened the door and entered, the students following and taking their places. Harry noted that he knew quite a few of those present : Ron and Hermione, of course, Seamus Finnagan, Dean Thomas, Draco Malfoy, Zabini Blaise, and more. All from different houses, although less Slytherin compared to the other houses. Once everyone was seated, Harry started the lesson.

"Good morning class. And welcome to advanced defence lessons. These lessons are slightly different to what you will learn during regular lessons. While the regular lessons are more general, advanced lessons gives you more practical knowledge , actually using what you already know. Half the lessons are going to be physical training (several groans could be heard), and you are encouraged to continue exercising during your free time. Sometimes, the only solution to a given problem is to escape, and you won't get very far if you weigh as much as a baby killer whale." Several people started to snigger at this, while Harry gave a brief thought to his oversized cousin, who probably weighed more that a baby killer whale. "You will be tested on your physical condition during the end-of-year exam. So next week, meet me at the quidditch pitch in training clothes. The other half of the lessons will deal with what YOU want to learn. I will be handing round pieces of parchment at the end of the lesson, and you will write down what you want to learn. I will make the lessons according to what you write. It is annonymous, so don't be ashamed."

"For todays lesson, and the lesson in 2 weeks time, I wanted to do something more fun. A question : which is better, to be more powerful, or to give the impression we are more powerful ?"

A stunned silence came over the class. What kind of question was this. A few students started to speak to each other, and Harry could hear bribes of conversations : "studid question", "of course it's better to be more powerful", "is it a trick question, maybe", and so on.

"Well, anyone care to give their opinion. Yes, miss Abbott," Harry said, as the sixth year Hufflepuff raised her hand.

"Well, I would say it's more important to be more powerful, sir. You can't cast some spells if you aren't strong enough." A few voices murmered their consent, while a few people frowned.

"Mr Boot, what's your idea on the subject ?"

"Well, while being powerful is important, if you don't know the spell, it's no use. If you give the impression that you're powerful, you can be intimidating."

"Good point. You are, in fact, both correct. Just an example of giving the impression of being powerful." Harry raised his arm, parm facing forwards. He had hidden his wand in a leather band on his wrist, where the tip was just under his palm. "Stupefy !" Harry said, and the green light sped towards a random student, who just barely managed to avoid the light. Lowering his arm, he asked, "what did I just do ?"

"You tried to curse a student" someone called out.

"What with ?" Harry asked. The class started to buzz, as people realized that his wand hadn't been in his hand. Of course, they didn't know he had hidden it, nor that he could really perform wandless magic, but that was the point of the lesson.

"Erm, sir, you performed wandless magic." Said a student who Harry didn't remember the name.

"Did I ?" Harry asked, with a hint of amazement in his voice. "I must be really powerful, to perform wandless magic, mustn't I ?" Hermione slowly raised her arm. "Yes, miss Granger."

"You gave the _impression_ that you used wandless magic." Harry smiled, and withdrew his wand from it's hiding place.

"Now, imagine someone attacks you. You use just this little trick. Your opponent may be distracted by your supposed ability to perform wandless magic, leaving you the opportunity to take advantage of him. Or her," he added as a afterthought. "There are many different ways to lull your opponent into a false sense of superiority or inferiority, and you can take to advantage. The question is not if you are more powerful or not, but the impression you give. Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being powerful enough to cast high level spells, but you have to know the spells, and be able to use them in situations of stress." The discussion continued for some time. 10 minutes before the end of the lesson, Harry handed out the papers, letting each student write down something before taking them back. By the time the end-of-lesson bell rang, people exited the class happy.

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10 minutes later found Harry watching the seventh years enter the class and take their seats. The only face he could say he knew was Cho Chang, who took a front fow seat with several other Ravenclaw girls, who were probably her room mates. They were less numerous, but not by much, numbering about 25 or so. Cho had also taken advanced arithmancy, charms and transfiguration, where she really excelled. Not surprisingly, not many people took advanced potions, and they were almost all from Slytherin. Advanced charms was probably the most popular, and chosen by almost all.

Harry came out of his _rêverie_ just as the last students settled down. "Good morning class. You know who I am, so I won't bother with re-introducing myself. This year, we will be doing physical training one out of every three lessons, starting next week. Lessons will take place on the quidditch pitch in proper training clothes. The other lessons will be talking about rarer forms of dark arts, such as potions, runes, and rituals that exist. You will have to learn about them to fight them. You will also learn several curses and hexes that are considered dark, and you will be learning them. They may just save you life." The students began to murmur among themselves, but it died down quickly as Harry continued speaking. "Not many people know, but most dark curses have their potion equivalent. The Cruciatus curse, for example, can be transplanted into a potion : the aptly named Cruciatus potion. We won't be learning how to brew it, but we _WILL_ be learning what can stop it's effects. Take notes of what will follow." The students sprang into action, taking out pots of ink and loading quills. Harry then proceded to talk about the Cruciatus potion and the Imperius potion, their obvious effects and how to counter their effects.

The bell signaling the end of the lesson rang out. Harry gave them their homework assignment for in two weeks time (Research 2 more dark potions, uses, ingrediants, and counter measures) and the students packed away their belongings and left. Almost all of them. Cho had stayed behind. Harry took a quick glance over her shoulder, and saw that the door was open. "What may I do for you, miss Chang ?" he asked.

"I was wondering, professor, if you had a book which I could borrow which spoke about basic sword mouvements, for armed combat lessons."

"Yes, I have a couple of books on the subject. You could meet me at my private quarters, after dinner. Or would you rather earlier ?"

"After dinner would be fine sir. Thanks you." She winked at him, before turning around and walking off. Harry knew he still had some time before lunch, but decided to have an early lunch and finish his research. The earlier he got the wards set up, the better.

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Harry had visited Dobby, who had been able to see through Harrys' disguise. Harry knew, however, that the house elf would keep the secret, whatever the cost. He was too grateful towards Harry and too faithful to Dumbledore for it to be otherwise. Harry asked if food could be brought straight up to his quarters at lunchtime. And what Harry wants, Harry gets. At least with Dobby, anyway.

Harry left the kitchens and went to the library. He went straight to mrs Pince to get the required books. She went and came back with 4 big leather-bound books, levitating them in front of her.Harry took them and returned to his chambers, where he proceded to go through them. He had managed to get through 2 of them when Dobby brought him his lunch. A large silver tray, covered with a large variety of foodstuffs, enough to feed 2 people. Harry ate, although he didn't manage to finish everything, then finished with his research. 

It was 2 o'clock when he was finished. And now, he was 100 percent sure that the wards he would put up didn't interfere in the slightest with the original wards. He left his chambers, and headed down to Dumbledores office. Upon arrival, he gave the stone gargoyle the password and went up the spiral staircase. Reaching the top, he paused before the large oak door, listening to see if the headmaster wasn't already in a meeting. Not hearing anything, he knocked and entered, greeted by the sight of the headmaster behind his desk, reading some papers.

"Good afternoon, sir." Harry said, entering the offace and closing the door behind him.

Looking up from the paper he was reading, Dumbledore smiled.

"Good morning James. What may I do for you ?"

"I just came by to tell you that I've finished conducting my research on the wards that are on Hogwarts. I had to take off a couple of the wards that I had intended to do, but other than that, there should be no problem."

"That's good to hear. When were you planning to set them up ?"

"I was planning on placing those on the great hall today, as well as the common rooms. Tomorrow, I could do the grounds outside, quidditch pitch and the teachers quarters, and do the different classrooms over the weekend. There won't be classes, so nothing to disrupt."

"Yes, that is satisfactory. Very well, you have my go ahead."

"Thank you sir."

"Thank _YOU_, James." Dumbledore said, with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his lips. Harry gave him a small nod before turning around and leaving the office, heading towards the great hall.

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Harry had just spent slightly over an hour placing different protection runes in the great hall. It was quite tiring because when creating magical runes, not only is a great deal of concentration and precision involved, you have to weave a spell into the runes. As it was, he had placed protection runes over the house tables and head table. When activated, magical barriers would appear over the tables, protecting all those who would be seated. And taking into consideration the size of the room, quite a large number of runes had to be placed for the shield to be effective. Otherwise, the shield would be too thin to be of any use.

It was now about three o' clock. The final lessons would soon be finishing, and Harry was slightly behind schedule. He had hoped to to all the common rooms, but since the great hall had taken so much time and energy, he figured he only had the time to do two of them today. He realized that he should have done the common rooms first, but it was too late to change anything now.

Making his way towards the Gryffindor common room, he arrived before the painting of the fat lady. He didn't have to give the password, seeing as he was a teacher. He entered, and found it to be completely empty, save for Hermiones big ginger cat that went by the name of Crookshanks. Harry considered it to be quite an appropriate name for the bow-legged feline, but kept this particular remark to himself. Harry then proceded to place several charms upon every entrance : the main entrance garded by the fat lady, plus the entrances of the different boys and girls dorms. Upon arriving at the door labeled "Boys – 6th Year", Harry paused. This is where he would be, if he hadn't been taken away to Godrics' Haven, where his classmates would also be sleeping. He paused an instant to remember different memories, the wake-up calls, waking up or falling asleep with someone else – usually Ron – snoring.

He opened the door. There were 5 beds, indicating that his bed hadn't been removed. The sheets were clean, as if it was soon to be used. Rons was just opposite, the bed closest to the door. Next to Rons' and Harrys' bed were Dean Thomas' and Seamus Finnigans' beds, with Neville Longbottoms' bed at the far end of the wall. Maybe, when he left the school, he would steal his bed and keep it, as a last souvenir. Several posters were on the walls. Ron had a couple of Chuddley Cannons posters next to his bed, whereas Dean had a couple of muggle football posters. Harry remembered when Ron tried to get them to move by poking the poster with his wand a few years back. Several books littered the floor. '_Quidditch Through The Ages_' was next to Rons bed. No surprises there. The odd school book was to be found. On Nevilles bedisde table were several herbology books. Neville may not have been the most magical person, but his abilities in herbology far outclassed almost everyone. Only Hermione got more, and not by much. Harry thought about it, and decided to buy Neville some herbology books. He would appreciate it.

Closing the door, he cast the appropriate charms, finished his work, and left to complete the same task on the Ravenclaw common room before the students came back from their lessons. He might even have time to do the other common rooms, if he went quick enough.

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That night, there was a staff meeting. They usually took place on weekends, but Snape had come back from a meeting with Voldemort. Since he had started playing spy once again, he was be regularly called. He would warn Dumbledore of him iminent departure, leave, come back to be patched up before giving what information he could. He had just come back from a meeting, and wanted to give his report the soonest possible time. That's why the entire staff were gathered together in a meeting roon next to Dumbledores office.

Everyone was present. The last teacher, professor Vector, had just entered and taken her seat. Snape was busy scowling at everyone. No one was talking, except for Harry (who was disguised) and Remus, who were discussing the wards Harry was placing. Harry had just sent Cho a note to tell her that there was a sudden teachers meeting. Of course, she could wait for him, but it would probably finish late.

Dumbledore stood up, causing Harry and Remus to fall silent. "Good evening. As you know, professor Snape here present serves as a spy to us. He presents himself, at great personnal risk, as a loyal and faithful death eater. He will now give us a brief report on todays meeting." Dumbledore took his seat, while Snape stood up

"He started, as usual, by asking us what we knew about the whereabouts of the Potter boy. Needless to say, no one was able to give him any information whatsoever. I, too, was unable, since his last letter came slightly under two weeks ago. He then told us that he had approached the dementors, and that they had agreed to join him. However, since he is still gaining forces, they are to stay at Azkaban until he calls them. He is still unable to contact the giants, being unable to find them."

Dumbledore had explained to Harry about that. He had sent Hagrid, along with madame Maxime, as envoys to the giants, to extend the had of friendship to them. They had agreed, and Dumbledore had had several wizards and witches place powerful protection charms on their place of dwelling, plus making it invisible and unplottable. Anyone not welcome would get the urge to flee from where they were. The closer the proximity, the more powerful the urge.

As for the dementors, they couldn't do anything. Fudge refused to have them removed, and they had nothing with which to buy them. Voldemort could offer them many things, from humans, to the opportunity to strike fear into peoples hearts. They were the most foul of creatures, sucking the happiness out of those close by. Many were driven mad, which is why wizards fear Azkaban so much.

"Lastly, he spoke of plans to attack. He says he has a list of different targets, but no date as such. Names he mentionned are Beauxbâtons Academy of Magic, Diagon alley, or the Misistry of Magic. He doesn't want to attack Hogwarts yet : he is not yet at full power, and the Potter boy is still nowhere to be found. Do we have any news of him at all, Albus ?"

At this question, Albus gave a brief look at Harry, who gave a small nod.

"Actually we do. You could even say that you personnaly know where he is." Snape looked disbelievingly at the headmaster, who chuckled. "Harry, if you could …"

Harry stood up, removing his disguise. Several people gasped, while Snape just stared at him. Harry sat down, content to get the disguise off. It tickled and itched when kept on for long periods of time or when you used a lot of magic at the same time, and it took Harry a lot of self-control to not scratch away madly. Those who hadn't been aware of his identity continued staring at Harry, only stopping when the headmaster continued to talk.

"Harry had been disguised for obvious security reasons. However, since Voldemort has finally decided to act, Harrys' disguise is no longer of importance for the rest of the staff. During this last year, I have been gathering forces, those who fought against Voldemort all those years ago. The Order of Light (AN : The Order of the Phoenix is just too cliché) is once again operational."

The meeting continued for some time, with Dumbledore giving information on the different measures he has taken. A couple of spies had been placed amont Voldemorts death eaters, places of security had been errected, useful objects created, and the like. A years worth of preparations. It hadn't been easy, since minister Fudge had not been helping. However, his position was not strong. Several recent decisions of his hadn't met with success, further demeriting his reputation. It was just a matter of time before he would be removed from his office.

The meeting finished. It was decided that Snape would tell Voldemort that Harry was nearing the end of his training, and that Harry would stay in disguise for a little while more. Since Harry didn't know the other teachers very well, they didn't ask him any questions and left to their respective quarters. Harry stayed back to talk a bit with Hagrid before leaving and going to his chambers. Cho wasn't there, but she had left him a note saying she had waited for a bit, but left to continue with her school work. Harry went up to his bedroom, got changed, and fell into a dreamless slumber.

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	11. Chapter 11 : More Wards and Combat Class...

Disclaimer : 

Harry Potter ain't mine,

And never will be,

What's hers is hers,

The rest belongs to me.

Summary :

Harry goes somewhere during the summer holidays after his forth year. He comes back a year later to teach D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts).

Authors Note : 

As is customary, I would like to begin by thanking all those who took the time to review. It's really encouraging to see that your story is appreciated by others. Thanks to :** michelle, Erinamation-limited2-nothing, shdurrani, Rachel A. Prongs, Wolfmoon and chochamg913 (**Harry, minister of Magic ? No way ! Ack ! I thought I made a mistake with Zabinis name. I'll try to change it, fear not !!**).**

To everyone : enjoy !!!

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Friday. Harry didn't have lessons on Friday, except for combat lessons the evening. Nontheless, he woke up bright and early. Getting up and brushing his teeth, he thought of the things he had to do today. He had several wards to put up : the Hufflepuff and Slytherin commonrooms, the ground outside (including the quidditch pitch), and the teachers quarters (if they accepted, of course). In other words, he had a lot to do today.

Getting dressed, he went down to the great hall. Most students were already there. The same could also be said for the teachers. His presence was mostly unnoticed, students busy eating and talking about todays lessons, and teachers were talking between themselves. As Harry approached the head table, he looked at Snape, who was glaring at him. His eyes held a strange mixture of loathing and … respect ? He wondered why.

Ignoring Snapes look, he went to a free place, sat down, and began to eat. He didn't speak to anyone the entire meal, lost in his own thoughts. He didn't even notice that Remus had twice tried to strike up a conversation, or that Mcgonagall had asked him several questions, only to be met with silence. He was so lost that he didn't even notice the glances Cho, Ron and Hermione gave him.

The meal was over. Students left their house tables and went each one their way to their respective classes. The teachers left. Soon, only Dumbledore and Harry were left. Dumbledore looked at Harry, and noticed his glazed eyes.

"Harry ?" No answer. Moving his hand before Harrys' eyes, he asked again, "Harry ?", only to met met with the same reply. He decided to act. "Voldemorts attacking …" No sooner the words were out of his mouth that Harry had jumped to his feet, wand in hand, looking around frantically. Noticing the empty hall and Dumbledores amused expression, he said :

"Where is he ?"

"Harry, you may not have noticed, but there's nobody here except for you and me."

"Erm, yes, well …" He didn't finish his sentance, and put away his wand. "I was lost in my thoughts."

"Yes, so I noticed. As did Minerva and Remus, since you didn't answer them when they asked you a question."

"Oh. I didn't even hear them asking …" he said sheepishly. He had been thinking about Voldemort, wondering what he was doing, and the wards that he would put up.

"What's worrying you ? Even the most distracted of people would notice 3 different people asking them a question. You only reacted when I used the name 'Voldemort'. What could be worrying you so ?"

"Other than Voldemort ? I mean, it's been a year. So many students here will soon be facing a time of war, and I know for sure than very few, if any, are prepared. I'm worried." Harry sighed. These thoughts had surfaced from time to time, but he had pushed them back. This time, they had come to the fore, taking up all his thoughts. And every word was true. The students just weren't prepared, and couldn't be prepared with the short time they had at their disposal.

"James, I know this. And I, too, have been doing my best to prepare Voldemorts return. But that's all we can do : our best. Don't wear yourself out trying to do too much. Even if it isn't enough, your best is just that. And if everyone does as much, there is still hope."

Dumbledore smiled as his words sunk into Harrys mind. And as they did, a thought came through : ' _What's comin' will come, an we'll meet it when it does._' It was what Hagrid had told Harry just before they had had to return home after his forth year. And he was right.

"If you will excuse me, professor, I have some wards to place." With that, he stood and left the hall, leaving Dumbledore watching him, a smile on his lips and a twinkle in his eye, sucking on a lemon drop, as Harry exited the hall …

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All day was spent placing wards. He had finished the commonrooms and the teachers quarters, which had gone quickly. The quidditch pitch had taken much more time, given the size of the darn thing. If Harry hadn't enjoyed playing the game so much, he would have given up half-way through. After lunch, he had continued placing wards : protection spells and charms, surveillance wards, detection spells, and everything else he could think of. He also placed a number of runes, allowing Harry to be aware whenever a presence coming from outside arrived.

By dinnertime, he was magically exhausted. He could still have performed a number of spells if need be, but he could feel the effort he had made during the day. Of course, he was carefull to hide this from the students. If they knew how tired he was, they would start to wonder what he had done during the day And that could lead to situations Harry would rather avoid. Walking slowly over to the head table, he saw Snape had his eyebrows raised. Despite Harrys' efforts, he had noticed his state, and was silently questionning the reasons behind it.

Harry made his way towards an empty seat and dropped himself into his seat, leaning back and enjoying not being on his feet. Only half of the staff was present, the other half was sure to arrive shortly. Harry, taking slow and deliberate mouvements, started to put food on his plate. Today was pasta, and every type of pasta Harry knew, and some he didn't, could be found along with a veriaty of sauces. He smiled as he remembered the first time he had eaten here, the food suddenly appearing in plates and dishes before their very eyes. Of course, since he had been in the kitchens, he knew that it was the house elves that prepared the food, placing it on tables which transported the food from the kitchens into the great hall. In a waord, it was … magical.

Harry started to eat. A couple of teachers entered, as well as students who rushed to their respective house tables to eat. Harrys eyes scanned the hall, taking everything in. He wasn't being paranoïd, since he wasn't fearing an attack. He was simply … observing. After all, he had gone from 4th year student to teacher after a year. No longer would he sit down with housemates, talking about coming quidditch practice or whatever homeworh such-and-such a teacher had given. He didn't worry about house points being removed, either, which was a good thing. He just sometimes had the impression that things had gone too quick. Much like the upcoming war.

It would be stupid to deny that a war was coming. Only in this mornings Daily Prophet (which he had only bothered to read at lunch) were mentionned 2 attacks on muggle-born wizards, with a dark mark hanging over each house. Fudge was trying to cover it up, and continued to deny Voldemorts return. He really was the biggest fool Harry could think of. He had half a mind to find the minister and beat him to a pulp, but that wouldn't solve anything. Like Dumbledore said, we could only do our best. And that, for Harry, was protecting the lives of all those in Hogwarts.

Harry had now finished what was on his plate. He felt better, the short time resting having replenished some of his strength. Looking at the time, he realized that he had to get his swords for tonights lessons. Getting up, he left the great hall and jogged to his chambers, taking turns here and passages there. Arriving, he opened the entrance and proceded to float the swords down to the great hall. Tonights lesson was going to be tiring …

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He hadn't been wrong when he thought it was going to be tiring. His arms ached, lungs burned, his heart raced, and he had to pretend it was nothing. Stupid, idiotic pride. After a warm up and basic sequences, he was already tired out. And he still had an hour left. He would never last at this rate.

"Okay. We'll start with some small duels. Who would like to duel ?" Almost everyone put their hand up. "Okay. Those who don't want to duel can move to the back of the hall to practice in pairs. Make sure the dulling charm of your partners sword and your own are active before starting. The others, come to the front." Brilliant idea. That way, I don't have to do any effort. "Now, does anybody want to duel anyone else in particular ?" No one moved. "Okay, we'll do this differently." Taking some parchment, he magicked everyones name on a piece before piling all the pieces of paper into one small heap. Casting a small spell, 2 pieces of folded parchment came out of the pile. Harry picked them up, unfolded them and read them aloud. "Remus Lupin and Ronald Weasley." The other students made a circle, and Remus and Ron stood in the middle. "Okay. Check your swords." Both ran their thumbs over the blade before nodding. Remus looked quite calm and composed, as he always did, whereas Ron was shaking quite visible. "Ready ?" Both raised their swords in front of their faces. "Go !"

Remus lunged forward, swinging his sword horizontally from right to left. A simple blow. Ron blocked, but barely, having trouble dealing with the fact he had to dissociate his opponent with the teacher. Remus followed up with a few more basic blows before getting through Rons blocks, hitting him in the thigh. Ron winced, but stayed upright.

"Mr Weasley, you are facing an opponent, not a teacher. Fight accordingly."

Ron gave a small nod, before attacking himself. He lunged rather well, starting off with the same move that Remus had started with. Soon, they had a proper duel going, although they only used the basic mouvements Harry had taught them. A few more blows were exchanged before Ron was hit in the same thigh, causing him to fall onto one knee. Harry gave a small whistle.

"Okay. Good start, once mr Weasley got into the swing of things. Next duel …"

The rest of the lesson continued like that. Those who had dueled went off to the side to continue practicing. Hermione also won her duel. Ginny dueled against Crabbe, who didn't even have time to swing his sword before Ginny had disarmed him. By some twist of fate, Malfoy had to go up against Goyle. Goyle actually wasn't too bad. He had the strength, but lacked speed and agility. Draco, on the other hand, lacked strength. Golye swung his weapon madly, forcing Malfoy to do some evasive dodging more than once. Malfoy eventually beat him with a clever blow to Goyles hand, causing him to loose his weapon. But Goyle had come oh so close to beating him, it was almost funny.

The duels finished in time. After a brief cooling down session, the swords were put away and the students returned to their common rooms. As thay had done last week, Remus, Ron, Cho (hadn't dueled, but had trained with another Ravenclaw while the duels had taken place), Hermione and Ginny waited for Harry. Once all the other students and teachers had left. Harry allowed himself to fal to the floor. Cho ran over.

"Harry, are you okay ?" she asked worridly.

"No, I'm knackered. I spent the whole day putting up wards, and I'm literally spent," he said. "I'll be okay as soon as I get a good nights sleep, though. I'm actually surprised my disguise stayed on. I must have overdone it this morning when I put it on …" he managed to utter. Remus put the tables back in their proper places. Leaning on Remus and Ron for support while Cho followed levitating the swords, they made their way back to Harrys' chambers. Cho left the trunk near the entrance hole while Remus and Ron hauled, err, carried, Harry up the stairs. After making their way to the master bedroom, they got him into bed. Actually, that's twisting the truth a bit. They uncerimoniously stuffed him under the bedsheets once they had removed his boots and cloak, not bothering with the rest. Remus removed his disguise, which had been close to removing itself.

"Erm, wouldn't it be better if someone stayed to watch over him, just in case ?" Ron asked.

"I'll do it," Cho immediately volonteered. Remus smiled at her.

"He's lucky he has you, you know. Take good care of him. And don't tire yourself out. Remember to get some sleep, too." With that, Remus, Hermione, Ron and Ginny left, the room. Cho heard the painting move and getting back into place, before she was met with silence other than the sound of the fire burning in the fireplace. Looking at the bed where Harry was soundly asleep, she smiled. He looked so peaceful, almost angelic. She arranged the covers on his double bed to cover his whole body, leaving only his head visible. She would have liked to stay awake all night, watching him, but she knew he wouldn't want that. She watchad as he shifted slightly and whispered a name so softly she almost didn't hear it.

"Cho." His lips twitched into a smile as he shifted again. Cho smiled. She got up and walked to the other side of the bed. Removing her cloak and shoes, she slipped under the sheets and moved next to Harry, feeling the warmth he was radiating. Wrapping her arms around him, he unconciously moved his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. She moved her head up, kissing him on the chin before lowering her head.

"I love you, Harry," she whispered, before closing her eyes and slowly drifting off to sleep, her head resting on his shoulder. The last words she heard before dozing off were : 

"I love you too, Cho …"

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Harry woke up slowly on Saturday morning. He was still tired, despite having had a good nights rest. He could feel someone next to him, but couldn't remember who and couldn't be bothered to open his eyes to see who it was. For the moment, he was content to just lie there, underneath the warm sheets.

As he awoke, yesterdays events came slowly through the fog that clung to his mind : his discussion with Dumbledore, the placing of wards and charms all around the castle, the combat lesson after dinner. That was his last memory, Remus and Ron dragging him back to his quarters. He couldn't remember anything after that. So who was it next to him ?

Opening his eyes, he saw long, black, shiney hair. Lifting his left arm, he brushed the hair out of the persons face. It was Cho. Her arms were still wrapped tightly around him, her head rested upon his shoulder, and his arms was still around her waist. They were both still completely clothed. Harry didn't move. He didn't want to wake her. She looked so peaceful lying there, eyes closed, slowly breathing. '_She's really beautiful,_' Harry thought, as he watched her.

They stayed like that for several minutes. Harry had glanced over to the clock that stood on his bedside table, and saw that it was almost 9. He was worried about what her dormmates would say or think, but they would find something to say. Besides, Dumbledore knew that they loved each other, and was sure that they would be adult-like in their dealings. And Harry planned on revealing himself soon. He actually had to give that some thought : how and when would he reveal himself ? Voldemort still hadn't given a proper sign about his presence, and Harry was worried that his 'coming back' would make Voldemort begin his campaign. On the other hand, the longer he stayed hidden, the more time Voldemort would have to prepare. He would have to speak to Dumbledore about this.

He felt Cho start to shift and stretch. Looking down, he saw her open her eyes slowly.

"Morning," Harry said, as her gaze moved up to his face.

"Harry ? Wha, what are doing here ?" Cho asked sleepily.

"Err, Cho, You're actually in my bed, not the other way round," Harry said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Oh, "was all she could reply. She visibly wasn't quite awake yet. "What am I doing here ?"

"I don't know. All I remember is giving last nights lesson and being dragged here. After that, nothing." Harry answered. They still hadn't moved and still had their arms wrapped around each other.

"Oh yeah, I remember. You were tired, and I wanted to stay to make sure you were okay. So professor Lupin and Ron put you in bed and left. I … I …" She faltered at this point, looking for the right words. "I knew you would be a bit angry if I kept watch over you all night, but I didn't want to sleep in another room. And this room has only one bed." She bit her lip, hoping he would understand.

"It's okay. I see. There's only one problem."

"What's that ?" she asked slightly worried.

"Now that I've woken up with you by my side, I don't know if I'll stand having to wake up without you by my side."

Cho looked up and saw the smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, much like Dumbledore.

"I don't know how I'll stand it either."

Lowering his head, he kissed her hair before bringing her closer. "We'll manage."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

They stayed wrapped up in each others arms for several minutes before deciding that it was time to wake up. Harry still had wards to put up, and Cho had to return to her room mates. They still didn't know what they were going to say to explain her absence, but still had a little time before she had to go.

They got up, Harry stretching to remove the many kinks that had appeared in his back. His first thought was to take a shower and change clothes. But Cho would have to be brought back to her house dorms first.

Harry figured that they could say that she hadn't felt well after yesterdays lesson and that she had gone to the hospital wing. Hey could arrange with Pomfrey that she say they had to put Cho in a private room, in case any of her friends had gone to look fer her there. After putting their respective shoes on, they walked down to see madame Pomfrey, who relunctantly agreed, but only because they had explained the whole situation to her. That, plus the fact that Harry had begged her on his knees, she eventually agreed. Thanking her profusely, Harry walked Cho back to her common room.

Once he had dropped her off safely, he went back to his chambers. He showered and changed clothes, leaving the dirty laundry in a basket for the house elves to collect and clean. He now felt completely up to finishing the wards. He only had classrooms and teachers quarters left to do. He would also put up the transportation runes. He hadn't thought of doing it while putting up the wards, or even before, which was actually quite stupid. He could have cut his travelling time down some. Oh well …

Checking that his disguise was well in place, he left his chambers and walked down the kitchens. He hadn't had breakfast yet, and needed all the energy he could get. He arrived at the painting of the fruit bowl and reached up to tickle the pear. It giggles and turned into a door handle. Opening the painting he walked in, only to be knocked back by a knee-height brown missile.

"Mister Potter has come." It was Dobby, the house-elf. He almost worshipped Harry ever since, well, ever since always, actually. But he had only been able to do so freely after Harry had freed him at the end of Harrys' second year, when he had tricked Lucius Malfoy into giving Dobby a sock. And, as everyone knows, it's only by giving a house-elf an item of clothing that he was alowed to be free.

"Hello Dobby." Harry said. "How are you ?"

The elf backed off a little, a large, toothy grin on his face. "Dobby is well, sir. He is very well. And happy that you have returned."

"Me too Dobby. Any chance of a late breakfast …" No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the elves scurried about. After less than a minute, he was presented with a large basket containing an assortment of sandwiches, chilled pumpkin juice, and a cold pasta salad. "Wow. Impressive service. Thanks." The house-elves beamed at the compliment before returning to their respective jobs as Harry went his way, munching sandwiches …

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It was now dinnertime. Harry was tired, but not as much as yesterday. He had placed wards on all the classrooms, several of the teachers quarters (some had refused, such as Snape), and placed transportation runes in key spots (every classroom, teachers chamber and office, great hall, house common rooms, and Hogwarts main gates). Luckily, he had had to place more runes today. Runes are a lot easier to place, since they require less energy. Just more concentration and precision.

Harry was slowly making his way through his meal. He caught Cho looking his way, and she gave him a wink. He understood that her friends mush have bought their story. He also saw Ron and Hermione sitting next to each other and talking. They were holding each others hands, eating with their free hands. Harry looked briefly around the hall and noticed that they weren't the only couple there. Not that that was any of his business, of course. He was happy that Ron and Hermione were a couple. He couldn't imagine them with anyone else.

Finishing his meal, he leaned back in his chair contendedly. He continued to look around the hall till Dumbledore bade everyone a good night. He saw Ron and Hermione leaving with the other Gryffindor sixth years and a couple of fifth years, Ginny included. He saw Cho leaving, chatting with her friends. He saw Draco Malfoy leaving, being followed by Crabbe abd Goyle. They still stuck to him, too thick to think for themselves. That's why they would make such great death eaters.

Harry mentally went over what he had to do. Next weeks lessons were aleady prepared. He had taken the liberty of planning several weeks ahead, both in general classes and advanced classes. And since next weeks advanced classes were both physical training, he didn't have much to prepare. General classes had been taken care of aswell. He had also decided what spells would be taught in duelling classes. He hadn't given much thought to armed combat classes, since he had been too tired yesterday to really think about it. He would have to talk with Remus about that. All that meant that he had tomorrow day free, since he had private combat class the evening. It would probably end up a friends night, though, with Sirius teasing the 2 couples and Remus watching, while he, Ron, Cho and Hermione had to suffer the consequences. Ginny probably wouldn't come, prefering to do her homework in the relative calm of the Gryffindor common room.

The great hall was now empty of students. Only a few teachers had remained, and were talking amongst themselves. Harry got up to leave before he noticed Snape watching.

"Why did you come back ?" he asked Harry.

"Unfinished business. If I left, it was to recieve a special training as the heir to Godric Gryffindor. Rowena had made a prophecy about a heir of Slytherin causing great chaos. The outcome, however, wasn't told. So Godric created a special place for his heir to train, in the aim of fighting the heir of Salazar. To this end, I was taken there and taught. Now, I'm back."

Snape could see the determination in his eyes and hear it in his voice. The message Harry was conveying was loud and clear : 'I'm here to fight, and fight I will.' He didn't say anything. He just nodded, getting up, and left the great hall with a swish of his robes, leaving Harry wondering what was the aim of their conversation …

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	12. Chapter 12 : An Attack

Disclaimer : 

To avoid people chasing me,

For money, cash, dough,

Harry Potter ain't mine,

But this plot is, though.

Summary :

Harry goes somewhere during the summer holidays after his forth year. He comes back a year later to teach D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts).

Authors Note : 

As is customary, I would like to begin by thanking all those who took the time to review. It's really encouraging to see that your story is appreciated by others. Thanks to :** shdurrani, WolfMoon, Lady Phoenix Gryffindor, icedrake, Golden Eagle, Deritine (**I know, most of my mistakes are typos. I sometimes read old chapters and only notice them then. I'll update with the corrected chapters eventually.**), crab (**I don't have any stories of the top of my head. Next time I find one, I'll note it's id, and put it somewhere.**) and chochang913 (**no typo mistake this time ;) **).**

To everyone : enjoy !!!

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After a good nights sleep, Harry got up to a beautiful Sunday morning. Through the window (that gave onto Hagrids hut and the forbidden forest), Harry could hear the songs of the morning birds as they flew around in the sky. Getting up slowly, blinking away the last _vestiges_ of sleep, he got dressed in light clothing, for the day promised to be warm.

Making sure his disguise was in place, he made his way down to the great hall for breakfast. Since it was Sunday, people would come down to eat at times varying from 7 o' clock to 10 o' clock. Entering the hall, he saw that most of the students were present. A quick glance told him that all his friends were there. Malfoy was also there, speaking with Blaise Zabini, a sixth-year Slytherin boy like Malfoy was. Harry didn't know much about him. He might ask Snape about him later. He could be useful in helping Draco deal with his father.

That was something Harry had had no news about. Whatever Dumbledore and Snape had thought about for Draco hadn't reached his ears. Legally, there was little chance that they could get custody of Draco, not unless Fudge, and the ministry in general, was convinced of Voldemorts return, as well as putting in prison the 

death eaters that were free.

But Harry didn't want to spoil his day with dark thoughts. The day shone brightly, and he didn't have any lessons to teach. He would have his friends over for private combat lessons that evening, as well as Sirius and Remus. They might even stay for the evening for rest and relaxation, and Harrys chambers were the safest place for that. When Harry ahd placed the wards, he had placed more protection wards, spalls and runes on his chambers than on any other chamber. However, he hadn't been partial for the common rooms and other teachers quarters, which had recieved the same protection measures as the others.

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The rest of Harrys' day went calmly by. He didn't have any papers to grade since he hadn't had enough classes yet for work to be handed in. So he spent the day reviewing his lessons for the following week and making sure everythink was okay. Afetr dinner, he had his friends over for their private combat lesson.

After a good warm up, everyone was sweating. Thankfully, they had remembered to wear something more comfortable compared to the usual school uniform. They were all in t-shirts and shorts. It was rather funny to see Remus swinging away in a pair of shorts. Only Sirius wasn't wearing shorts, since he insisted he was as much teacher as student.

Cho decided she would rather have a sword-fighting lesson this week, as opposed to her knife lessons of last week. She had been practicing, either alone in her dorm of against Ron or Hermione. They both wanted to advance, Ron since he was rather gifted and Hermione since she realized the usefulness of it. Plus, it wasn't something you could learn from a book, you could only learn if you practiced and experimented by yourself, either alone or with others. Cho was getting better. She was almost up to Hermiones level, but they were both behind Ron. Remus was holding his own, but Harry estimated that Ron was better than him. Remus only beat Ron because Ron couldn't get over the fact his adversary was a teacher.

It was now 9 o' clock. Harry had just finished completing the cooling-down session, so everyone was still sweating and breathing slightly heavier than usual. Sirius had been a student this time, and while the 4 others worked on some more basic sequences that Harry showed them, Harry had worked Sirius a bit harder. He saw that he was actually very good. That is to say, he held his own against Harry for a while. Harry got through, though, with a few well-placed blows.

Ron and Hermione were now busy doing their homework. They had decided to take up Harrys' offer of help, so they worked on their assignments, asking him for help every so often. On, obviously, asked more often than Hermione, who usually just asked him to clarify some obscure point in the book. Hermione wanted to keep her grades up, although it could hardly get any higher. And Ron just didn't want to have to endure her constant nagging. Cho was sitting on the couch next to Harry, leaning on his shoulder. He had is arm around her waist, drawing her even closer to him. They just stared into the fire,not saying a word (except Harry when Ron or Hermione asked him a question). They were just content to be next to each other.

Ron and Hermione soon finished their essays. Harry offered to read them, to see if anything could be added or if anything needed to be corrected. They both refused. Seeing Harry and Cho there, just sitting next to each other, they both understood their need for privacy. Bidding them a good night, they went back to the Gryffindor common room, leaving Harry and Cho alone. Cho had already finished all her school assignments, surpriosing Harry since the seventh years had a lot of work due to their NEWTs.

They stayed like that for several minutes, being warmed by each other as much as they were warmed by the fire.

"Cho, is there something you want to ask ?" Harry asked. He could … sense … feel … her wanting to ask a question. He didn't know how, he just knew.

"Well, there are several things I'd like to ask. First, when will you reveal yourself ?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I was thinking of soon. Since Voldemort is thinking of attacking soon, his rebirth will be known. And while I despise fame, and as much as I hate to say it, my '_coming back_' would bring people hope, as well as directing his attacks against me and not some other defenceless target."

"That sounds logical, I suppose. My second question is : when will you reveal about us ? As a couple, I mean …"

"That's an even better question. You do realize that since I am Voldemorts main target, if he knows I'm going out with you, you will, in turn, become a target. Things could get very dangerous. And I don't want anything to happen to you." Harry looked at Cho straight in the eye, and she could see the love and care he had for her. It looked almost like a flame burning in his eyes.

"I know all that. But I don't want to stay in the shadows. I love you Harry. I want the world to know that."

"And it will. If you want the world to know, the world shall know. But you will have to defend yourself. I want you to be extra carefull, to keep your wand and your knives on you at all times. I can get you a paper from Dumbledore authorizing you to keep them at all times. I don't want you to takes risks. All this, because I don't want to risk losing you. I've had my share of sadness and misery, enough to last me the rest of my life. I don't want my future to be made of more sadness. I want it to be filled with happiness, and I want to share that happiness with you." Cho just looked at him, thinking of the words Harry had just said. "I might only be 16, but there are several things I'm sure of. And what I want for my future is one of them."

Cho just nodded, and snuggled closer to him, soaking in the warmth he radiated and the love he had for her, just as she had for him.

She didn't stay much longer, however. Tonight was the full moon. Remus would soon be leaving to get into a clearing about half a mile into the forbidden forest. As usual, Sirius would be accompanying him. Harry had insisted to do likewise. After bringing Cho back to her common room, Harry joined Remus and a disguised Sirius near Hagrids hut, at the border of the forbidden forest.

"Ready to go, Harry ?" asked a already weary Remus. Full moon was tiring on werewolves, it's influence felt even if they weren't directly exposed to its rays. The moon was behind a think patch of cloud, and Harry estimated they had about 15 minutes before it appeared. Nodding his head, they swiftly made their way towards the clearing. They arrived with still a couple of minutes to spare. Not wanting to take any chances, Sirius stayed in his dog anumagus form, while Harry transformed. With a small 'pop', where once stood Harry stood a magnificent dark-furred wolf. It was black, with a few grey streaks in its fur. The eyes were a bright, emerald green, and a small, lightning-shaped patch of white sur stood on its brow. Remus smiled, seeing that he was a wolf.

"A wolf form. That's a good form Harry." He gave the wold a small smile, while Harry looked at him. With another 'pop', the wold became a big golden griffin. Remus was, to say the least, surprised, and fell of the stone he was sitting on with a small thump. Sirius, who had been sitting and watching, fell to, but being a dog, it looked like he had suddenly slipped on something. Another 'pop', and the griffin became a wolf again. Harry gave a small yip, while Remus continued to look at him wide-eyed.

"Well I never. A dual-animagus. And with a magical form. Very good, Harry." With these last words, a beam of moonlight shone through the clouds, hitting Remus spot on. With a growl, he transformed, and became a wolf. Giving a small yip, followed by a friendly growl, the 3 friends ran deeper into the forest, leaving Hogwarts well behind …

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A week later, and still Voldemort hadn't moved. Harrys week had been relatively hectic, compared to his first week as a teacher. He had given lessons, gave or removed points to the different houses, spoken with the teachers and talked with his friends. Just a normal week. It was this that worried Harry more. Voldemort hadn't attacked anything. He hadn't made any moves against anything. If he had, at least they would know where he was, what he was up to. But instead, they were faced with a total lack of information. Snape hadn't even been called to meet him.

It was now Sunday. Everyone was assembled in the great hall for dinner. Students were chatting away, talking about the week of schoolwork they had had, the assignments they had recieved, and the imminent start of the quidditch season. The first match scheduled was Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw. Harry had no doubts as to which team he would be cheering for. He did have an interest in a certain someone on the Ravenclaw team, after all. The match was scheduled to take place in a months time, leaving both teams with plenty of time for training and whatnot.

Dinner was almost over when a hawk came streaming through the window. It was a little late for normal mail, so Harry supposed that it was a special happening. The hawk went straight to Dumbledore, dropping a letter straight into his outstretched hand before seating himself on the back of his seat. Everyone was watching Dumbledore as he swiftly opened the letter and read it. As soon as he had finished, he stood up.

"Prefects, lead your students to your common rooms. Students are not to leave until a teachers comes to tell them they are allowed to do so. Severe punishments will be dealt to those who do not adhere to this rule."

As soon as he had finished, the students got up and swiftly left, leaving the hall empty except for the teachers. Everyone was looking at Dumbledore, who's face was set in a grim mask.

"The Beauxbatons Academy of Magic had been attacked." Several of the other teachers gasped. "A large group of death eaters attacked one hour ago. They were, for the most part, driven off thanks to the efforts of the older students, but they did sustain damage, not only to th actual building, but also concerning the students and teachers. Of the students, 50 died, and about as many injured." A few of the teachers were silently weeping at hearing this, while the others had horrified looks on their faces. "Furthermore, 2 teachers died facing Voldemorts followers. According to the letter, sent to me by madame Maxime, Voldemort was not present."

Teachers were shaking their heads. Snape had a horrified look on his face. Despite being a spy, he had had no idea that this was going to happen. Voldemort must suspect him of being a spy, and hadn't let on any more information than the absolute minimum, not enough to act upon. It's even possible that Voldemort had somebody here in the school, spying on them. If that was the case, the person probably also knew that he was back. 

"Whatever the case, we have to be very careful so as no repel any attacks that Voldemort may do against us. Sucurity had recently been improoved, with additionnal wards and protections being placed on the school grounds. I think that it would be best if we recieve the students here, if only for a little while, the time for them to get things organized once again. Any objections ?" No one raised a hand. "Very well. I will write back immediately to extend a hand of friendship. I will also report to the ministry of magic, although they have doubtlessly already been made aware. I would like one teacher to go to Beauxbatons now, to check on the situation." Remus raised his hand. "Yes. You will be accompanied, as usual." It wasn't a question. "Now, would each head of house speak to their houses. And James, I would like a word, if you please …"

The teachers stood and left, the heads of houses to the common rooms, the other teachers to their own private quarters. Harry wondered why the headmaster had called him 'James', but reasonned that if anyone was watching, calling him Harry would be too suspicious. Harry suddenly remembered : the Marauders' map. That could tell him if someone was around. Removing his wand, he muttered "Accio Marauders Map". Dumbledore just sat there, watching. A minute later, the small piece of parchment appeared from inder the doors to the great hall and flew straight to Harry. He grabbed it out of the air and touched it with his wand, murmurring "I solemny swear that I'm up to no good." The lines appeared, and soon he was holding a complete map of the school.

"Hmmm. Interesting," Dumbledore remarked, looking intently at the map. They saw that all the students were in their common rooms. The teachers were all in their private chambers or offices (Hagrid was in his hut), except for Harry and Dumbledore. Filch and his cat were roaming the hallways, as were several ghosts. Peeves the poltergist (spelling???) was currently in the trophey room. Harry noticed a name that didn't belong there, on the edge of the map and moving away from Hogwarts : Peter Pettigrew.

"Dammit ! Wormtail !" Harry said, his voice bitter. "He was here, probably spying on us. And we could have caught him ! Damn him !" Harry ranted, as angry against Pettigrew as he was against himself. Had he thought of the map earlier, he had had a chance of catching the traitor, and by doing so, more than probably granting Sirius his freedom.

"What's done is done, Harry. Doing mistakes isn't a bad thing if we learn from them," Dumbledore said gently. He was probably having the same thought concerning Sirius' freedom. But he was right. You can't change the past, not without consequences. It was just too risky. But they had to learn from their mistakes. "Now, Harry, that was one reason I wanted to see you. You placed extra wards, yet they didn't sound any alarms. Do you now why ?"

His tone wasn't accusing, but Harry took it personnaly. After all, he was the one who had placed the runes. "The runes I placed were set to trigger if someone arrived from outside the school. If he was on the premises, which is more than likely, he could be considered as originating from the school. After all, he could have spent days here, and no one would have thought about a rat." He sighed. "However, since he's now out of the bounds set by the runes, it shouldn't be too hard to reset them." Harry closed his eyes and started to chant in a low voice, while Dumbledores gaze went from Harry to the map and back continually. After 2 minutes of chanting, Harry opened his eyes again. "There. Once someone from outside arrives, I'll be warned."

"Good. Now, this map Do you think it's possible to have a copy, for me ?"

"I honestly don't know. It was created by the Marauders, as you must have noticed when I activated it. I don't know if casting a simple copying spell will copy the map and its abilities or just the parchment. You'll have to ask Sirius or Remus for that."

Dumbledore nodded, giving it some thought. "Well, Harry, I'll ask one of them tomorrow. In the meanwhile, I'll keep the map till tomorrow." Harry nodded. Standing up, he bid the headmaster a good night before leaving the hall. Just as he exited the doors, he head Dumbledore call out : "And don't take things to heart. You wouldn't be human if you didn't make mistakes, James …"

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